“We cannot just sit by and do nothing!” said Sebastian Olofsson to his uncle, Dan Olofsson, a Swedish IT billionaire and owner of a private game reserve in Hluhluwe (northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). It was February 2003, they were both at the reserve and Sebastian had just returned from a guided tour of the vicinity that had exposed him to the dire poverty in the area and the human suffering there caused by HIV/AIDS.

Olofsson concurred. He had been thinking the same thing for some time. He had bought the land for the lodge in 2002, initially as a private retreat for his family and friends. He was now thinking of developing it as a commercial venture. He had been deeply affected by the need in the area, but what was it that he could do to make a difference?

No. of pages: 6

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Peter Doyle, Group MD of Metropolitan, who developed the Metropolitan Model, noted that in Europe and North America the impact of HIV infection had been modest. In Africa, however, it was significant. The situation in South Africa was unique; the country had a modern economy, and was skills-dependent and technologically advanced. The larger social, political and economic impact associated with the South African epidemic, as well as those obstacles that prevented South Africa from formulating an adequate response, were examined. The appropriateness for South Africa of Brazil’s response was explored.

No. Pages: 10 

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Núr Samuels was one of the founders of the Western Cape AIDS Business Forum. A growing requirement was manifesting within South African companies to implement programmes that were effective in the management of HIV/AIDS management. Samuels recognised the need for the documentation of ‘best practice’ with regard to managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Metropolitan was an early leader among those taking action against the epidemic in South Africa. Samuels considered which criteria to use in her decision to document and assess their initiatives to ascertain whether the company’s HIV/AIDS activities would qualify as best practice. She considered which criteria she should use.

No. Pages: 17  

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In 2004, Dr Brian Brink, the man charged with managing mining group, Anglo American’s (Anglo’s) response to the HIV/Aids pandemic, conducted a review of Anglo’s HIV/Aids policies. In his assessment, the results were lacking: 35 000 Anglo employees were HIV positive. He believed that the root of the problem was that the number of employees voluntarily electing to be tested for HIV was disappointingly low. Without knowing their status, HIV-positive employees could not take advantage of Anglo’s offer of free antiretroviral drugs, and HIV-negative employees could not take steps to prevent infection. At the same time, without knowing employees’ status, Brink could not take steps to help prevent future infection of HIV-negative employees, or ensure that HIV-positive employees had access to antiretroviral medications and critical information on how to prevent transmission of the virus to their spouse, child, or sexual partner. How could he increase employees’ uptake of voluntary counselling and testing?

No. Pages: 3 

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“We almost woke up a little bit too late,” said Clifford Mkhize with a wry smile as he discussed his company’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. It was April 2005, and the consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic were becoming increasingly obvious. The private sector was taking more responsibility for what had initially been regarded as a public health and social issue, as businesses became aware of the implications of its failure to take proactive steps to halt the epidemic. Mkhize considered his company’s response so far.

No. Pages: 10 

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It was mid-2008 and Zackie Achmat, founder of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) − widely regarded as one of the most successful HIV/AIDS activist organisations in the world − sat in his office in the historic Westminster House in Adderley Street, Cape Town considering the future. The organisation was facing two related challenges that he was unclear how best to address. Firstly, it was in urgent need of improved professional day-to-day management and administrative skills if it was to sustain its successes of the past 10 years. But with activists as the backbone of the organisation, motivated by ideological rather than career ambitions and with little knowledge of corporate processes, it was proving difficult to create the more structured working environment that the TAC needed.

Secondly, Achmat, now in his mid-forties, HIV positive and with a heart attack behind him, was aware that he may have a shorter lifespan than most, and wanted to move on to do other things. He was unconcerned about the future political or ideological leadership of the TAC. The question was how to find a national manager or chief operating officer with consummate business skills, the knowledge to understand the complexities of the TAC’s organisation and work, and the ability to manage activists.

No. Pages: 22 

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In 2012, South Africa was still one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Statistics SA estimated that in 2011, 10.6% of the total population and 16.6% of the adult population (people between 15 and 49 years of age) were HIV positive.

According to Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, Leickness Simbayi and Allanise Cloete, all researchers at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), certain cultural factors contributed to the spread of sexual diseases in South Africa. They noted that African groups were traditionally polygynous and made allowances for men to have extramarital relationships and to seek other wives after their first marriage. “While many men today marry monogamously in accordance with Christian rites, many continue polygynous relationships in an informal way through extramarital concurrent partnering,” they observed, adding: “Whilst traditional polygyny has declined in many African societies, men in present-day South Africa commonly engage in multiple and concurrent partnerships.” They pointed out that sex with multiple and concurrent partners had been identified as a key behavioural cause of HIV in southern and South Africa.
 
No. of pages: 17

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South Africa had the most rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world. By 2001, 4.2 million South Africans were infected with HIV. However, the development of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy and subsequent action by the government was noticeably absent. A critical role had emerged for business to provide AIDS education, prevention and health care to employees, particularly considering that they would have to bear many of the costs associated with an infected workforce. Clem Sunter, Chairman of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, and a well-respected public figure, considered ways how to convince businesses to implement workplace programmes.

No. Pages: 32 

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