LUMKILE MONDI: Old faces stoke old fires as SA seeks to move forward
The new dawn seems to be attracting the Class Project of 1996 as former president Thabo Mbeki returns to the political scene
My optimism over SA’s reform prospects after the “new dawn” suffered a heavy blow this week when former president Thabo Mbeki re-emerged on the political scene endorsing the ANC. What irritated me most was seeing him side-by-side with Gauteng premier David Makhura — I had a painful flashback to their record in the health sector. My sister-in-law died in 1999, the period of Mbeki’s HIV/Aids denial and the state’s refusal to provide antiretrovial drugs. For Makhura, the Life Esidimeni chapter is fresh on our minds, and no-one has yet been held properly accountable. Were it not for patriots such as Mark Heywood of Section 27 and others who fought for our right to live, many more South Africans would have died. In addition to Heywood, my hero was Jack Bloom of the DA, who counted the number of days former MEC for health Qedani Mahlangu failed to account for her actions. The picture of President Cyril Ramaphosa walking side-by-side with Mahlangu on one of his famous morning walks in Sow...
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