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Mandla Majola Defendants M Majola First September 2008 Claim No. HQ07X02333 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION B E T W E E N : MATTHIAS RATH CLAIMANT - and – (1) GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED (2) BEN GOLDACRE DEFENDANTS WITNESS STATEMENT OF MANDLA MAJOLA I, MANDLA MAJOLA, of 225 Ntsimi Mhouli, Phillipi, Cape Town, South Africa, will say as follows: 1. I am the Treatment Action Campaign ("TAC") co-ordinator for Khayelitsha, an area outside Cape Town. 2. Unless stated otherwise, the facts stated in this witness statement are within my own knowledge and belief. 3. I have worked for the TAC since 1999. I grew up and lived in Gugulethu and began my work as a volunteer in that area. I became the provincial co-ordinator of the TAC and in that role, facilitated the opening of the Khayelitsha office in 2000. This office was started together with Médecins Sans Frontières and UNICEF. I have also worked as a national co-ordinator for TAC. I have since then moved out of Gugulethu to Phillipi and returned to work from the Khayelitsha office as I believe the TAC can be more effective when working at a grassroots level. Khayelitsha 4. I have worked here, as the TAC co-ordinator for Khayelitsha, since 2004. Khayelitsha is one of the poorest communities in the Western Cape. It is a high density area, housing approximately 700,000 people with a further 140,000 arriving annually, predominantly from the Eastern Cape Province, searching for employment. Despite being located in an urban environment the literacy rate is very low and the unemployment rate is between 45% and 50%, accounting for more than half of Cape Town's unemployed people. The area is fast-growing and has very little infrastructure. 5. The majority of houses in the area consist of informal settlements constructed of zinc and wood and there are many families who still do not have water, electricity or toilets on their plots of land. These people, around 20% of the residents, need to share access to water and toilets located in the nearby vicinity. 6. The major means of information dissemination are radio and word of mouth. I can state that almost everyone in the community owns a radio and there are local radio stations that communicate information in isiXhosa, the predominant language used in the area. Other effective communication tools are the local community newspaper, Vukani, and the community meetings organised by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and informal and formal community structures, such as the South African National Civic Organisation ("SANCO"). SANCO is an organisation that seeks to assist people in sorting out community problems like the consequences of crime on individuals and assisting in mediating family disputes. Its influence is great and many people trust the organisation as the majority of its leaders also work for the ANC. The community meetings are usually held at school and community halls. 7. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the area is high. It is a serious problem and approximately 75,000 people in the community have HIV/AIDS, and of that number, approximately 10,000 are currently on ARVs. Many people who have contracted the disease are too ill to continue working and rely on family and neighbours for support. As a result of the many AIDS-related deaths, there is an ever-increasing number of child- headed households. Based on the information accessible to the TAC, we believe that there are as a many as two AIDS-related deaths every single day in Khayelitsha. One of the major problems surrounding the HIV pandemic in the area is the high illiteracy rate and the lack of education around HIV, particularly amongst those residents who have arrived and continue to arrive, on an annual basis, from the Eastern Cape. 8. There are 11 public health clinics in Khayelitsha, which are established to service the needs of the 700,000 member population. Of these 11 clinics, 5 administer ARVs. Needless to say, this is wholly insufficient for the needs of the residents. There is a stigma surrounding the disease and people are afraid of the contracting the disease and what it means to be HIV positive. However, because people now have access to ARV treatment, there is a growing realisation in the community that HIV does not equate with a death sentence. This, together with the continuing work by the TAC and other organisations aimed at educating people on HIV and AIDS, has to some extent lifted the stigma against those people with the disease. The TAC in Khayelitsha 9. The TAC has approximately 1,000 members in Khayelitsha. The TAC has an office located at Town 1 Properties, Sulami Drive, Site B, Khayelitsha, which is visited by over 50 people each day. The people who visit the office do so for a number of reasons; some to seek assistance in organising campaigns in the community, others who come seeking assistance in obtaining social grants and some simply because they see the TAC office as a second home, where they are comfortable and feel accepted regardless of their HIV status. Many of the people who visit the TAC office are living with HIV. The people who visit our offices are not required to disclose their HIV status, those who choose to do so, have made the decision on their own. 10. Our office has weekly meetings for all project co-ordinators that is used for feedback and brainstorming purposes. The main projects at the Khayelitsha branch include the door- to-door campaign (aimed at education and awareness), general education (including TB, HIV, gender violence and xenophobia), condom and poster distribution (approximately 500,000 condoms each month and informative posters are distributed on a monthly basis to clinics, schools, churches and community centres in the area) and our weekly radio slot on Radio Zibonele. Other work that we are actively involved in includes assisting the community on obtaining social assistance (welfare) grants and identity documents from the government and collaboration work with other NGOs, primarily on issues relating to TB. In addition to these weekly meeting, the TAC facilitates a weekly Saturday meeting for members of the community on various topics. These meetings are open to everyone, and anyone may contribute to the agreed-upon discussion 11. The work I do as a co-ordinator of this 1,000 strong unit is demanding. I work closely with the community and I believe that it is important that I am available to the people throughout the day and night. I have had to learn the processes of court and we now work closely with the South African Police Services in the area in order to realise the objectives of our gender violence awareness campaign. When our TAC volunteers and members get physically attacked, it is my responsibility to assist them through the ensuing court process and to do all in my power to ensure that those people who choose to work for us are safe in performing the work they do. As a result of the xenophobic violence experienced in Cape Town earlier this year, I was involved in co-ordinating the mobilisation and assistance of TAC members. I am also responsible for the office budget and administration. Matthias Rath 12. Matthias Rath arrived in Khayelitsha in around 2005. He opened three offices in Khayelitsha where his vitamins were distributed from. There was one in an area of Khayelitsha called Makhaya and the other two were in Sites B and C respectively. He started distributing pamphlets condemning ARVs and promoting vitamins. These pamphlets and posters were widely distributed by people from the community, who were employed by Matthias Rath. Posters were put up on the bridge in Khayelitsha, at the taxi rank and bus and train stations, as well as in prominent places at the shopping centre. Pamphlets clearly stating both Rath and SANCO were distributed by hand at the train stations and taxi ranks. Sometimes a bunch of pamphlets would simply be left at a public space for people to pick up if they choose to. 13. The people's understanding of Matthias Rath's message was that ARVs were toxic and that he was encouraging people not to take them, but to take his vitamins instead. They also understood him to be saying that his multivitamins were a cure for HIV. The posters with his messages confused people. This was evidenced by the change in people's attitudes to managing their disease. People who were sick, but had not yet started taking ARVs became reluctant to start ARVs and others who were already on ARVs stopped the regimen because, I believe, they were afraid that the medicine may be toxic as stated in some of Matthias Rath's posters and pamphlets. 14. People were also confused by messages on the posters that defamed the TAC by saying that the TAC was an agent of the pharmaceutical companies. Many people in the community are familiar with the TAC and found the TAC a credible organisation as a result of its ongoing ARV and mother-to-child treatment campaigns. Those people who were HIV positive became fearful and desperate. 15. Matthias Rath also employed people to visit people's houses and persuade them to take multivitamins. These people were members of the community and people linked with SANCO, an organisation trusted by the community. I believe that the Chairperson of SANCO was getting money from Matthias Rath. I am able to say this because he left SANCO to work full time for Matthias Rath as Matthias Rath's Khayelitsha co-ordinator.
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