Chairperson, earlier on I alluded to the facilitation team meeting with the human rights commission. It is indeed the concern of the human rights commission that the next election should be treated as a watershed transitional election, so that Zimbabwe as a country bucks the trend of election campaigns that are characterised by violence, intimidation and so on. The inclusive government has actually brought them back from the brink of the abyss. The governor of the central bank was running the economy on a cash basis, with no credit whatsoever. Today, the banks are working better, and the commercial shops have goods and commodities. So there has been steady improvement.
Of course, sometimes old habits die hard. The law enforcement units there are used to dealing with citizens a bit harshly. Those kinds of happenings are still taking place; this was confirmed in those meetings with the various political parties, including Zanu-PF itself, which had its own complaints as well.
However, the point is that Jomic, this joint structure that looks at monitoring and implementation, is active, and the human rights commission is of the view that this watershed election would require not just election observers. In fact, they compared these impending elections to the 1980 elections that happened in the old Rhodesia, which gave birth to Zimbabwe; that there would be a need for an international presence on the same scale to ensure that there will be a break with the past trend. I thank you.
Development of approach by government ito addressing social needs of new generation affected by and infected with HIV/Aids and government's engagement with teachers' union and school governing bodies relating to expansion of voluntary testing campaigns at school
4. Mr S S Mazosiwe (ANC) asked the Deputy President:
(1) Whether the government has (a) any strategies or (b) engaged any structures such as the SA National Aids Council to look at developing an approach towards addressing social needs of the new generation of those affected by and infected with HIV/Aids, who are currently cared for by institutions such as homes and hospices, and would be required to leave when they are 18 years old; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether the government engaged organised teachers' unions and school governing bodies when the decision was taken to expand HIV/Aids voluntary testing campaigns at schools; if not, why not; if so, (a) what was the general response in this regard, (b) what mechanisms will the government put in place to ensure the confidentiality of the results and (c) what support mechanisms will be made available for learners who are HIV-positive?