We just spotted this article by Geoffrey York for Canada’s Globe and Mail in which he commends south Africa’s growing HIV/AIDS campaigns. A campaign addressing men of South Africa encouraging them to choose a single partner, however conflicts with the lifestyle of the South Africa’s own President Jacob Zuma, who practices Polygamy.

So the big question here is why, in a country that loses more lives to HIV than anywhere else in the world, is this practice acceptable? But where do you draw the line between deep cultural practices, and practices that are contributing to the epidemic of HIV?

Zuma’s polygamy undermines AIDS fight
Globe and Mail, Canada

12/01/2010

Africa Diary

Africa bureau chief Geoffrey York blogs about life across the continent, from Cape Town to the Sahara.

Geoffrey York

On a recent drive through Soweto, the sprawling township that formed the heart of the anti-apartheid struggle, I was impressed by the ambition and honesty of the latest campaign by South Africa’s AIDS activists.

The billboards and posters on Soweto’s streets are blunt and unflinching. A real man, they say, is someone who “chooses a single partner” – not someone who defines himself “by the number of women he can have.

It’s a rare campaign that directly addresses men, directly grapples with how men define their self-worth, and directly tackles one of the biggest factors in the AIDS epidemic: what the experts call “multiple concurrent partnerships” – the tendency of many men to have several sexual partners at the same time

Too bad the entire campaign is being undermined by the most powerful of all the South African men: President Jacob Zuma

Mr. Zuma is the most famous polygamist in a country that still allows polygamy. Last week he donned leopard skins and white sneakers to perform a Zulu dance as he celebrated a traditional Zulu wedding to his third wife

Another wedding to a fourth wife is already in the planning stages. He is already the father of 19 children by at least six women

The president has no embarrassment about his polygamy. His office has even issued a bizarre “press statement” about the wives, explaining that the Presidency has a “spousal office” to give administrative support to the three wives. The statement declared that Mr. Zuma has the “prerogative” to be accompanied by all three of his wives at official functions or engagements if he chooses. It also outlined the “areas of interest” of each of the three wives, as if they were cabinet portfolios

Polls suggest that polygamy is not supported by the majority of voters here. But many South Africans strongly defend the practice, calling it a fundamental element in the culture of the Zulu nation

In fact, Mr. Zuma’s public displays of attachment to Zulu tradition are one of the key reasons for his popularity among ordinary South Africans. He uses his Zulu rituals as proof that he is a man of the people – unlike his aloof predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. And in strictly political terms, the strategy is succeeding: the latest polls give the president a 58 per cent approval rating, while only 23 per cent of South Africans disapprove of him

But while his polygamy might be a useful political advantage, it weakens and contradicts all of the work that Mr. Zuma has done in the fight against AIDS, which causes more deaths in South Africa than in any other country in the world

In some ways, Mr. Zuma’s policies on AIDS and HIV have actually been fairly progressive. He has announced an ambitious plan to provide more anti-retroviral drugs to those with AIDS. He is trying to expand HIV testing, so that more people know their status. He has made all the right promises on HIV policy — a big change from the days of his rape trial in 2006, when he famously testified that he took a shower after having sex with an HIV-positive woman to protect himself from the virus

But all of this good work is being undermined by his polygamy, which sends exactly the wrong message. One of South Africa’s most astute political commentators, Justice Malala, put it this way: “No serious discussion has taken place about what example the captain of the ship continues to set for the nation in promoting concurrent, multiple sexual partnerships – the chief driver of the spread of HIV.

He described polygamy as “dangerous, outdated and sexist.” The only reason that it remains, he said, is “because it serves men.

So what did you think of the article? More importantly, do you think President Zumu’s Polygamy is contributing to the HIV epidemic in South Africa?

In this day and age, do you feel Polygamy in many cultures should still be relevant? Or do you think it should be tackled in the fight against HIV/AIDS?

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