KZN Health MEC condemns church movement for discouraging ARV treatment

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has slammeda local church movement for encouraging membersnot to take their antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. Simelane warned that ARVs are a life-saving treatment. Speaking at her department’s Easter Weekend Church Wellness Outreach Programme, Simelane made the distinction between condemning dangerous health misinformation and respecting religious freedom.

“As a department, we respect the autonomy of the religious sector and do not seek to dictate matters of faith. However, we have a duty to act when faced with allegations that people are being misled in ways that could cost lives,” the MEC said. “If it is true that any person is encouraging followers to stop their ARVs, that behaviour is dangerous and cannot be tolerated.

It is, in effect, a way of killing people slowly,” she warned. The MEC stated that such actions amount to nothing less than genocide against people living with HIV. “We all remember what HIV did to our communities before the arrival of ARVs, the funerals, the orphans, the wasting away.

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We will not take our people back to that dark time” Simelane said. She added that stopping treatment had serious consequences. While condemning the alleged behaviour in the strongest possible terms, MEC Simelane called for legal consequences for anyone proven to be deliberately spreading life-threatening misinformation.

Spreading misinformation on this matter cannot be taken lightly. A controversial religious community in KwaMaphumulo, KwaZulu-Natal, has attracted about 100 followers who have abandoned careers, education and, in some cases, medical treatment to pursue a faith-driven lifestyle. Led by Reverend Vusimuzi Sibiya, (in a black jacket) the group says it has found peace and purpose, while raising concern over some of its practices.

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