Most senior managers in the health department are political appointees with no managerial experience, experts told an Aids conference in Durban on Tuesday.

"The research we did revealed that between 50 and 60 percent of senior managers have never been exposed to management. They are just employed because of political party affiliation," Dr Gustaaf Wolvaardt said at a media briefing on the fourth SA Aids Conference.

Wolvaardt is the director of the Foundation for Professional Development, a private institution established by the SA Medical Association in 1997.

The three-day conference, with 4142 delegates from 52 countries, started on Tuesday at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli convention centre and was officially opened by Deputy President Baleka Mbete.

Close to 100 journalists covered the conference on Tuesday and 95 sessions are expected to be held during the conference.

Health expert Professor Hoosen Coovadia said there was a need to stop talking and start dealing with the HI virus which claimed thousands of lives in South Africa every year.

South Africa was experiencing one of the most severe Aids epidemics in the world. At the end of 2007, there were around 5.7 million people living with HIV in South Africa.

"We do not have the infrastructure, the nurses and doctors to roll out our HIV treatment properly. I thought that when we won democracy we would have resources.

"We have more funds compared to other countries but our past has not been good," Coovadia said.

Light at the end of the tunnel

While concerns were raised about South Africa's failure to effectively deal with the issue of HIV/Aids in the past ten years, most delegates were optimistic that there were signs that the country was moving in the right direction.

In the past, delegates said, many government leaders, including the previous Minister of Health Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, were not committed to fighting the HIV pandemic.

Tshabalala-Msimang, who touted garlic, olive oil and beet root over antiretrovirals, was replaced by Barbara Hogan who was passionate about dealing with HIV hands on.

"Our past has been sad because there was less delivery. I strongly believe that the future now looks good because there is a lot of energy in our people to work together," said Professor Linda Bekker, chairperson of the conference.

"There have been signs of movement which makes me believe that we can make a dent in fighting HIV," said Bekker, who is also CEO of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town.

She said the biggest challenge was to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission and to expand ARV roll out to HIV patients.

Addressing delegates, Mbete commended the 16-year-old Aids activist, Luyanda Ngcobo, who had addressed the conference before her.

Ngcobo was born HIV-positive in KwaZulu-Natal and is on antiretroviral treatment. He now lives in Cape Town with her mother who is also an Aids activist.

"We are lucky to have a teenager like Luyanda," said Mbete.

The deputy president said that government was committed to fighting the pandemic, adding that the political will was the key.

"Despite having achieved in setting up strategies, we still have a huge challenge as we are treating only half of the people infected with HIV," she said.

Ncobo and Archbishop Desmond Tutu jointly addressed the conference during the Nkosi Johnson Memorial lecture held during the conference.

Tutu commended the new minister of health, Hogan, for not following in the footsteps of her predecessor.

"What happened in the past shattered me. I am glad that we now have a minister who is committed," said Tutu.

Sapa

Expathetic Matthew Freemantle knows why he'll be voting: his name is Chubby Verwoerd…

SA politics: A DIY guide Are politicians letting you down? Hadlee Simons reckons it's time you got in on the action...

Election Focus For the latest election news, features, profiles and more, check out our Election Focus page.