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RESPONSE TO QUERIES ON STATEMENT BY PIETER-DIRK UYS
– Government Communication Information System (GCIS), 25 February 2003
Government has noted the e-mail message being circulated by Pieter-Dirk Uys on the challenges of HIV/AIDS facing our country.
South Africa is a free country, and all citizens, including Uys enjoy freedom of speech. While we are convinced that there are limits to satire, we do recognise Uys's right to overstate matters and respond flippantly to serious issues.
Government urges all South Africans to unite against HIV/AIDS, in the campaign of hope and not despair.
We would have thought that Pieter-Dirk Uys would realise from his own experiences in AIDS prevention, as most South Africans do, that searching for scapegoats and instant solutions is not the correct response to the challenge of HIV/AIDS.
Working with partners from all sectors of society, government will continue to implement the national comprehensive strategy on AIDS, in all its elements, as the most rational approach to the pandemic.
