Today, former President Thabo Mbeki published a defence of his AIDS policy.
We learn a few things:
1. It's now confirmed that Mbeki co-authored Castro Hlongwane, Caravans, Cats, Geese, Foot & Mouth and Statistics, an embarrassing conspiracy-laden AIDS denialist document that was circulated to ANC branches. Until now his authorship has been widely known but not publicly admitted by Mbeki first-hand.
2. Mbeki continues to misrepresent or misunderstand death statistics, despite this having been explained over and over.
3. He is unrepentant about his AIDS denialism.
I would have thought that as with Zimbabwe and the arms deal, Mbeki would make some attempt to obfuscate his role, that he'd throw up dust about the historical facts. I thought he'd finally acknowledge the size of HIV epidemic, but try to argue, like some of his apologists, that more effort had been made than he is given credit for, and that he has been misunderstood. Then there would have been a need for a substantive reply to rectify lies about the historical record.