Threatening e-mails linked to Stats SA

By Kimberly Guest for Stats SA
Johannesburg, 13 Sep 2007

An employee of government agency Statistics SA has been sending threatening e-mails to the Aids Foundation of SA (AFSA).

The news follows last month's reports on ITWeb that a government employee had attempted to censor information on Wikipedia's page on HIV/Aids in SA.

The employee was traced back to Stats SA. The agency subsequently suspended the employee, pending the outcome of an investigation into the matter.

ITWeb can now exclusively report that the Wikipedia editing was not the first instance of anti-Aids messaging from within Stats SA.

On the attack

E-mails in ITWeb's possession show a Stats SA employee - whose name is known to the editorial team - harassing AFSA and accusing the organisation of misinformation.

In the first of several e-mails sent over May and June, the employee states HIV/Aids does not exist.

"There's plenty evidence that it doesn't [exist], which needs no more argument. Nevertheless people continue to die due to toxic anti-virus drugs and psychological negativity of the people that believe that Aids actually exist... Why do you guys seem to be not ashamed of earning those big bucks with the expense of more innocent, especially black people's lives? I demand a response please [sic]," said the employee.

A second e-mail accuses AFSA of being in denial and seeking financial return.

"After so much evidence and you're still holding on to such deadly beliefs. It's such a devilish world black people live in. It's so sad that a majority of blacks could be so ignorant that they can't even believe the truth. And as for you people there, I understand that you're making money out of this and some are just on a mission to see to it that black people have vanished from the face of the earth [sic]," said the employee.

Worrying ignorance

AFSA deputy director Nozuko Majola says the organisation was "deeply" concerned by the e-mails and even contacted the Treatment Action Campaign.

"It is always a concern for us when we come into contact with such ignorance. In this case though, we had to consider the fact that it had come from a government department. And not just any government agency, but the one that provides us with much of our data around HIV/Aids and mortality," she explains.

The foundation also sent a complaint to Stats SA, but received no response, she says.

Dr Pieter Fourie, a director of AFSA, also brought the e-mails to Stats SA's attention. This followed references to his paper "The Political Management of HIV and Aids in South Africa: One burden too many?" being removed in the July spate of Wikipedia edits.

However, Rashad Cassim, Stats SA's deputy DG and acting statistician general at the time, only apologised for the Wikipedia edits and did not respond to the AFSA harassment allegations, says Fourie.

Seeking clarity

ITWeb has been unable to establish whether the Stats SA employee involved in the AFSA e-mails is the same person involved in the Wikipedia censorship.

However, the organisation says it is aware of the foundation's complaint.

"Stats SA has since made the complaint part of the broader investigation into the ways in which employees are using the Internet/e-mail. This includes the investigation related to the Wikipedia issue. The organisation is committed to deal harshly with employees who are found guilty of abusing these communication instruments," says Stats SA spokesman Trevor Oosterwyk.

Oosterwyk is unable to provide further details on the progress of Stats SA's investigation into the Wikipedia censorship issue.

"We are right in the middle of this investigation; the anticipated time of completion is the end of October. This includes the disciplinary hearing of the suspended official. At this point, Stats SA undertakes to communicate the outcomes of both the investigation and the fate of the suspended employee," he says.