SANAC Appeal to South Africa on World AIDS Day 01/01/08

Current and former Archbishop of Cape Town,  Thabo Makgoba, Njongonkulu Ndunganane and Desmond Tutu have all endorsed the mobilisation. They are calling on other religious leaders to do the same.
They have called on churches to integrate messages about HIV into their services on Sunday November 30th  and for all churches to ring their bells to start the minute’s silence on December 1st; 

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, will hold a special service at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on World AIDS Day. HIV counsellors will be on hand to provide information and will also offer testing for HIV;

A specially  prepared sermon will be given in all mosques and a special message will be sent to all Muslim schools, Muslim-owned businesses, and Muslim-run e-mail lists in South Africa;

Former President, Nelson Mandela will release a statement through his organisation 46664; www.46664.org.za, will carry key messages and actions and will be a portal where organisations a
nd individuals can find out what they and their companies/organisations can do during the 15-minute 'Focus on AIDS’;

Khomanani, SANAC, NEDLAC will run national media campaigns that will reach 29 million people in the days before World AIDS Day and on World AIDS Day itself;

Members of COSATU Central Executive Committee have voluntarily tested for HIV. COSATU will also distribute 2 million pamphletd to its members encouraging VCT and prevention of mother to child HIV transmission;

COSATU and Anglocoal will hold a large workplace event in Witbank offering testing for HIV. COSATU President Sidumo Dlamini will publicly test for HIV at the event;

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has endorsed the campaign;

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has  issued a  circular to all   member organisations encouraging them to participate in the events of World AIDS Day. The Banking Association of South Africa will hold a minute’s silence;

All CCMA offices will observe the 15 minutes and will send a circular to staff;

MxiT, will send messages to 5 million members, and have offered to donate all proceeds from its World AIDS Day wallpaper downloads;

Judge Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights  will issue a  statement in support of South Africa on World AIDS Day;

The Proteas, South Africa’s cricketers, will wear red ribbons during the test match with Bangladesh;

All Primedia radio stations, with 3.2 million listeners, will observe the 1 minute silence before the news at midday on December 1st. Radio shows will also integrate the theme of World AIDS Day into their programming and some DJs will undergo HIV testing on air

A comprehensive and widely consultative plan for a national social mobilization around PMTCT will be announced by the Minister of Health;

A week long community mobilization is taking place in three districts in KwaZulu-Natal;

The UK Development Minister, Ivan Lewis, is visiting South Africa over the 28th to 30th November to recognize South Africa’s efforts.