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Ruling awaited in prisons ARV case
The Mercury
2006-07-24

The Department of Correctional Services will learn next week if it has leave to appeal against a Durban High Court order to remove any obstacles preventing inmates at Durban's Westville prison from receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

Yesterday, Judge Thumba Pillay adjourned the case until some time next week when he will give his ruling. He did not specify a date.

The court granted the order last month after an urgent application by 15 HIV-positive inmates and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to expedite prisoners' access to ARV treatment. The order applied to all prisoners at the prison.

Pillay also reserved judgment on an application for leave to execute his initial order until the outcome of any appeals was known.

However, advocate Morumo Moerane argued for the department that Pillay should grant leave to appeal as the judge "was wrong" in the first place to grant an order compelling the department to comply with its constitutional obligations, as it was already doing so.

He conceded that at the time the AIDS Law Project intervened on behalf of the inmates the department might not have been meeting its obligations.

But by the time the May 30 application was filed, the department was meeting its obligations under the constitution and its own operational plan.

Moerane said also there was no need to grant the application to have Pillay's order executed until the appeals were over, as the state was already meeting its obligations.

Advocate Wim Trengove countered, saying that the enrolment of inmates in the ARV treatment procedure "just means that they have made appointments to see doctors". "Making appointments to see doctors is not full compliance (with the constitution and the department's operational plan)."

Pillay said he noted that a Government Communications Information Service article had quoted a department official labelling him as "unethical".

About 150 AIDS activists protested outside the Durban High Court during the hearing.

The TAC held a press conference later in Durban where it expressed concerns over the delay in implementing a comprehensive ARV treatment plan at South Africa 's prisons. - Sapa

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