Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi have marked World Aids Day by visiting a home for AIDS orphans in Mpumalanga.
There are several dozen children being cared for at the uZwelo Child and Youth Centre in Piet Retief.
The health minister said that he and the Deputy president focused on the area because the Gert Sibanda District has the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence in the country.
The home was formed 12 years ago and houses 48 children, of whom 20%are HIV positive.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people from the Stop Stock Outs campaign are demonstrating in Mpumalanga against the shortage of HIV and TB drugs.
They are demanding that the government deal with a lack of the medicine at health facilities in parts of the country. A coalition of NGOs claims that one in five of the health facilities surveyed have a critical shortage of the drugs.
According to their research, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Free State are the worst hit.
The protestors say they won't leave until deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe addresses them.
http://www.enca.com/south-africa/motlanthe-visits-hiv-orphans-face-drug-shortage-protests
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