By Nangamso Mabindla
3 December 2004

WORLD Aids Day commemorations may have come a day late in King William's Town but the theme 'Stay Negative, Live a Positive Life' was enough to encourage residents and municipality employees alike to lead positive lives.

At the event, held at the War Memorial on Thursday December 2, residents were reminded of the importance of leading healthy lives, even when living with the virus.

Speakers at the event encouraged communities to accept people living with Aids. "We need to make these people feel part of our communities; events like World Aids Day help us to appreciate these brave individuals," said the City's Special Programmes Unit Chairperson, Sindiswa Gomba.

Gomba also encouraged communities to participate in the 16 days of Activism to show their support for community building initiatives.

Guest Speaker at the event, Dr Zuberu Elabor, Chief Medical Officer at Grey Hospital in KWT, said people needed to work together in the fight against Aids.

According to Elabor, in 2000, 37 million people worldwide were living with the virus; 14 million children became orphans and about 95 per cent of Aids-related deaths were in developing countries.

"These stats are staggering. We all need to work together and fight this disease. It's the only way we can be successful. Both local and provincial governments need to work in unison in order to be successful," he added.

Local NGO's that attended the event praised the City's efforts in informing the public about the scourge of Aids. "We are happy that they invited us. It shows they know we need to work as a team to defeat this killer," said Zukiswa Mali, from Yibanenceba Support Group.

Mali added more organisations - especially religious bodies - should start teaching communities different ways of avoiding the disease. "If we can start in our communities and teach them different methods of avoiding Aids; we'd have done half the job," said Mali.

The Siyakhula Dance Group and the Correctional Service Choir also kept the large crowd inside the memorial hall on their feet with scintillating performances.