HIV-positive people not banned from army

The South African cabinet has distanced itself from recent HIV/AIDS remarks by Mosiuoa Lekota, the country's Minister of Defence, a local newspaper, The Star, reported on Thursday. Lekota caused an uproar two weeks ago when he said: "Anybody with the condition [HIV/AIDS] cannot be recruited [into the defence force]." Reading from a cabinet statement, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said there was no policy to exclude individuals from the employ of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) merely because they were HIV-positive. He explained that the mandate of the SANDF and the rigour of military training required the assessment of recruits on the basis of various criteria. Lekota's statement was widely criticised at the time, and some lawyers believed the stance to be unconstitutional.