Abstract
M.A.
Mbeki’s controversial views on AIDS have given way to allegations that the South
African government is in a state of denial over the AIDS epidemic. However, the long
wave nature of the epidemic suggests that the present extent of the South African
AIDS epidemic is the result of successive governments’ failures to respond
adequately to HIV and AIDS. If denial is at least in part to blame for the recent
government complacency and inaction, this would suggest that denial has been a
recurring component of official responses to HIV and AIDS since the first two South
African AIDS deaths have been recorded in 1982.
This study attempts to determine the validity of such claims of government denial by
formulating and testing a denial hypothesis. The hypothesis is first contextualised
with an overview of the South African epidemic as well as a review of allegations of
government denial. Stanley Cohen’s typology of official denial is then applied to
South African official rhetoric to determine whether instances of government denial
have been significant as well as frequent enough to warrant claims of continued
official denial. This reveals possible political factors that might motivate policy
makers to resort to official denial.
The study concludes, tentatively, with a confirmation of the allegations contained
within the denial hypothesis. However, this is done within the broader notion that
denial is inherently vague and couched in language (rarely in writing) and therefore
difficult to test with certainty. Instead, the real value of this study lies in the insight
gained into the complex politics of denial.