Update on KZN grant

Four months after the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria granted US $72 million to the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, there is still uncertainty over how the government intends to use the money.

The government controversially tried to block the province's grant, stating that the application did not go through the national government before being submitted to the Fund as specified in the application guidelines.

The Fund approved a US $72 million grant to KwaZulu-Natal, which would allow for a range of care-oriented services for people living with HIV/AIDS, while South Africa received US $93 million for national programmes.

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang insisted that the money should be spread across all of the country's nine provinces. But the Fund's guidelines stipulate that donations can be used only for approved projects.

Earlier this month, Tshabalala-Msimang met with the Fund's Executive Director Richard Feachem, to discuss the implementation of the South African proposals approved by the Fund.

According to a joint statement released after the meeting, the Fund's secretariat was constrained by a lack of authority to reallocate approved budgets, both of which require board-level decision-making.

"It was agreed that Dr Tshabalala-Msimang would consult further on the KwaZulu-Natal proposal with the CCM [Country Coordinating Mechanism], the South African AIDS Council, and relevant stakeholders in KwaZulu-Natal, and advise the Global Fund secretariat on how to proceed with the implementation of the proposal," the statement said.

The parties agreed to implement steps to ensure an "accelerated implementation" of the proposals.

The government and the Fund would work together to appoint "as soon as possible" a Local Fund Agent, the in-country representative of the Global Fund in South Africa, the statement said.

The CCM would also appoint a principal recipient - an organisation which will enter into a formal agreement with the Fund on the CCM's behalf.

The principal recipient would monitor the implementation of the projects, receive and disburse funds to the programmes, and submit regular progress reports to the Global Fund, the statement added.