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South African AIDS activists on Tuesday said reports that the government would provide free antiretrovirals (ARVs) to people living HIV/AIDS were unfounded.
"The rumours of a free drug announcement next month have surfaced because of pressure from international and local organisations," the national organiser of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Mandla Majola said.
Britain's Observer newspaper reported on Monday that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his budget speech next month would make a commitment to provide ARVs free to all people living with HIV/AIDS.
Last year TAC threatened a national campaign of civil disobedience if the government failed to sign and implement an HIV/AIDS plan.
Majolo said TAC would no longer wait for a response from the government and planned to drive the point home by a march in Cape Town to mark the opening of parliament by President Thabo Mbeki on 14 February.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions