BOTSWANA the “Durex” of Aids strategies

Special Assignment
25 October 2005
SABC3
21:30

“SAVING A GENERATION”

Unlike our own country, Botswana has done almost everything right in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Yet large numbers of children continue to die of AIDS-related illnesses. This beautifully filmed documentary gives a human face to the tragedy of children with HIV and its screening marks the launch of a global project aimed at meeting the needs of children affected by the virus.

Internationally children still see only a tiny fraction of the resources dedicated to fight AIDS. Few HIV positive children have access to life-preserving pediatric drugs. Even fewer children orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS receive outside support. And less than ten percent of women receive services to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies.

Botswana has done much to address the spread of the disease. It spends almost a quarter of its budget on health and only 5% on defence. But this is still not enough. While children have free access to treatment, thousands of them die from AIDS every year and many more have been orphaned by the disease.

“Saving a Generation” will be screened on 25 October 2005, the day the UNICEF launch their “Unite For Children, Unite Against AIDS” campaign. It will highlight the fact that HIV/AIDS is now a children’s disease, robbing tens of millions of their futures. It aims to put children back in the picture – for treatment, protection, prevention and support during pregnancy.

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30 September
Our favourite investigative/documentary style tv show keeps on exposing the realities of our fledgling but amazing society and pushing for positive change and respect for all human rights… UBUNTU!

Special Assignment
4 October 2005
SABC3
21:30

Residents of Alexandra township in Johannesburg are angry. They say their lives are no better than they were four years ago, when a project aimed at renewing the area was initiated. They feel they’ve been let down and they want to know why.

Alexandra is a few kilometers from wealthy Sandton. In 2001, President Thabo Mbeki established the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) with a budget of R1.3 billion. The aim was to build houses and to upgrade the area with better roads, bridges, sanitation and shopping centres. The project would generate jobs because local skills would be used wherever possible.

Alexandra Concerned Residents, a community based organization, says not much has changed in the last four years. There are still too many dust roads they say, and not many projects have got off the ground. Unemployment is still extremely high (officially 60%); homelessness, poverty, unhealthy living conditions and overcrowding are prevalent and still a way of life for many people.

Some residents of Alexandra even claim their lives have got worse. They accuse the ARP and other relevant stake holders of not doing their job properly and want to know why this been allowed to happen.

There are only three years left to complete the project. By now many residents have started doubting that Alexandra will ever become an area with proper sanitation, water and electricity. Better living conditions for all seems a remote dream.

Special Assignment goes in search of answers to the community’s many questions. This investigation is directed by Mpho Moagi and was filmed by Thulo Monare.

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21 July
UPDATE!
If you followed the tragic story of the HEROIN addicts Carlos and Dadinha from Maputo, make sure to catch this happy ending… or should we tread cautiously and say “happy sequel.” There is hope for Heroin addicts but it’s a long and lonely path.

Special Assignment
19 July 2005
SABC3
21:30

This Tuesday Special Assignment presents a double bill. In our first story we visit Johannesburg International Airport to review the safety and security of our gateway to the world. Secondly, a good news story: we meet up with former heroin addicts Carlos and Dadinha who have almost miraculously turned their backs on drugs and now lead productive lives.

As the world once again goes onto high alert for terrorist attacks, we investigate the security setup at Johannesburg International Airport. JIA has been targeted by robbers a number of times recently and questions have been raised about how armed men managed to penetrate the security cordon so easily.

These concerns are all the more relevant with the 2010 Soccer World Cup on the way. Tourists and soccer teams passing through the airport will be putting their trust in the Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) which runs the airport. We find out whether ACSA is up to the task.

The investigation is directed by Msizi Khuhlane and was filmed by Jan De Klerk.

In our second story we travel to Maputo where we link up with Mozambican couple Carlos and Dadinha Felner. Over the past two years, Carlos and Dadinha have become recognizable faces on Special Assignment and have provoked an enormous response from viewers.

We first came across Carlos and Dadinha in a Maputo drug house spiking heroin. Special Assignment was at the time exposing the heroin route from Pakistan to South Africa via Tanzania and Mozambique.

We eventually brought the couple to South Africa where we filmed their drug rehabilitation. Dadinha was in therapy for six months; Carlos for two.

In November last year, we returned to Maputo to see how the couple was doing. It was a devastating and depressing sight: they were both back on heroin, homeless and infected with HIV. Dadinha had also been raped. Carlos was very sick; his immunity fast fading. They were talking of dying together.

We returned to Maputo a week ago. What we found was a miracle. The couple had not died. In fact, since we last saw him Carlos has gained 15 kilograms, is healthy and is holding down two jobs. The couple has found a new flat and has been reunited with their daughters. They last time they took heroin was in December.

After so much suffering and disappointment, it seems as if they are at last facing a new and brighter future. This good-news story is directed by Jacques Pauw and was filmed by Thulo Monare.

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MARCH
I don’t know how many of you caught the mind-blowing Special Assigment episode in December that focused on the Heroin trade and drug runners in Africa – shocking stuff (if I remember correctly, most of it comes in at Dar es Salaam and then comes down via Mozambique to SA). We were briefly introduced to the very sad lives of Carlos and Dadinha, two highly educated, high powered governmental people whose lives plummeted into a deep dark hole of brown sugar.

I have a special place for Maputo – it’s one of my favourite cities and I remember being profoundly affected by the story of these two lost souls.

In a further episode, we saw the team arranging for Carlos and Dadinha to go through free rehabilitation – they were advised to seperate the couple for the rehab to be successful… Carlos seemed to come out of it alright, Dadinha needed more time.

Tonight we pick up their tragic and disturbing story yet again and see what has happened to them post-rehab. This hard-hitting journalistic gem produced by Anne-Marie Lombard and Jacques Pauw deserves an award for the non-judgemental yet brutal way in which heroin addiction is explored. It is a frightening drug and all of us should be watching this show.

Special Assignment
SABC 3 at 22h30 on Sunday Mar 13 , 2005
“Shot of Love – Carlos and Dadinha”