Stranger Than Fiction

I had been hearing rumors about this story for the past few weeks, but it was only over the weekend that I saw the first written confirmations in the mainstream media. As a disclaimer, my source at St. Mary's Hospital on the outskirts of Druban tells me that this problem is not as widespread as these articles might have you believe.

And now - without further contextualization - a distinctly South African story of crime and drug use (from AFP.com):

S.African criminals steal anti-AIDS drugs to smoke with marijuana

Wed May 16, 3:29 PM ET

South African criminals are rumoured to be robbing AIDS patients of lifesaving anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines to smoke with marijuana for a better high, a local hospital said Wednesday.

St Mary's hospital in Durban in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province said patients and staff have reported ARV's being stolen for this purpose.

"The community outreach co-ordinator of our ARV programme did confirm ... that on average twice a month she receives reports from patients that their anti-retrovirals have been stolen, either at knifepoint or snatched from their hands," hospital chief executive Dr Douglas Ross said in a statement.

AIDS lobby group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), has warned against smoking Stocrin, part of a triple therapy cocktail given to patients, and reported to be the drug being being abused.

Stocrin was a "very toxic drug", TAC spokeswoman Lerato Maloka told AFP.

"Stocrin affects the central nervous system, it is recommended that people who have depression or psychotic illness shouldn't take Stocrin as it will make the condition worse," she said.

People using the drug could experience side effects like dizziness, nightmares and hallucination.

"People of all ages are stealing it (Stocrin) from patients and smoking it together with dagga," The Saturday Star quoted community worker Nancy Sias as saying.

"They say it gives them a better high than Mandrax and it makes them feel dizzy, weird and have wonderful dreams."

Ross said the hospital was encouraging patients to conceal their medicines in public to minimize the risk of theft.

"We have replaced the medication of those whose medication was apparently stolen."


For more coverage, here is a link to an article in this week's Mail and Guardian:
Thugs smoking antiretrovirals 'with dagga'

De la Rey, De la Rey / Will you come to lead the Boers?

“De la Rey”, a song about a famous Afrikaner general during the Boer War of the same name has been making headlines both here and abroad over the past few months. The song - penned by Louis Pepler and most famously performed by Bok van Blerk, both Afrikaans musicians – has rapidly become an Afrikaner anthem here in South Africa. In the music video, which I’ve posted below, a blooded and beleaguered Afrikaner soldier sings of "a handful of us against a whole big force" and "a nation that will rise again." This has tended to bring to a boil the always-simmering racial tensions in SA, as it was the Afrikaans-led National Party who institutionalized Apartheid in the 1950’s.

The most pertinent questions that have been posited by the national and international press are the following: Should the Afrikaans people be entitled to celebrate their cultural history, even if it evokes an appalling past of White Supremacy? Does this song functioning as a subversive Call-to-Arms for Afrikaners? And should the artist be held responsible if the South African Right Wing parties use this song as a metaphor for the overthrowing of the democratically elected – and currently African National Congress-led – government.

It’s a very interesting Freedom of Speech issue, and one that you guys might be interested in reading more about. Here are a couple of links to articles in several different newspapers. Please take a look, and I would love to hear any feedback you guys might have.

(A big Thanks to Sue and my dad who alerted me to the fact that this issue has made it all the way to the hallowed pages of the New York Times.)

From the New York Times

From the Mail & Guardian

From the Sunday Times

And, as promised, here's the music video:

Mail & Guardian Online

Another quick one:

I'm adding links to articles from the highly regarded South African newspaper, Mail & Guardian, along the right side of this page. Hopefully this will provide you with some better insight into the goings on in SA, beyond what I'm telling you. I've started reading this site with some regularity (their editorial board is much more frank than anything I've seen in any US paper) and I imagine that I'll post an interesting article or two up here in the near future for you guys to take a look at.

I'm still in my office at New York Cares, so that's all for now.

Peace,
b