Helen Zille has picked a fight with Charlize Theron.
The Oscar-winning actress was at the International Aids Conference in Durban last week.
The star said in her opening speech: “HIV isn’t just transmitted by sex
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:
EN-GB;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">– it’s transmitted by sexism and racism, poverty and homophobia.”
The Western Cape premier clearly didn’t agree, and tweeted: “Most ppl [people] in SA know how HIV is transmitted and how to avoid it. Why don’t ppl act on this knowledge? Cld [could] Dbn [Durban] Aids conference address this?”
Zille followed that up with a message for the star: “Dear Charlize, Answer to your question: we failed to beat Aids because we failed to translate scientific knowledge into behaviour change.”
QUESTIONED: Actress Charlize Theron at International Aids Conference.
While the DA leader got plenty of likes and retweets, the Mail & Guardian called her a “HIV troll” and quoted education and unemployment statistics to back up Charlize’s statement.
The article stated: “Research links poverty with relationships in which women have little negotiating power for condom use... condoms protect against HIV, but poorer women often end up in relationships in which they depend on men for money.
“It gives them little control over who those men have sex with or, more importantly, what type of sex they themselves have with their partners. That lack of ‘agency’ spreads HIV.
“The link to ‘white racism’? White racism, which defined the apartheid era, led to black people being deprived of education and job opportunities.”