Washington Post
Friday, April 25, 2003; Page B07

Salih Booker's opposition to apartheid took him to the doorstep of the South African Embassy in Washington at least a dozen times through the 1980s, as thousands gathered for almost-daily rallies that led to hundreds of arrests and helped fuel the urgency of the anti-apartheid movement.

Yesterday, Booker was back. Back to the same smooth stretch of sidewalk on Massachusetts Avenue NW, back at the understated embassy, back to raise his voice in protest, this time against South Africa's handing of its AIDS crisis.

Booker marched with about 200 others, and they dumped 600 pairs of shoes onto the concrete at the side of the embassy to symbolize the daily death toll from AIDS in South Africa. The marchers, many of them HIV-positive, tumbled the donated shoes -- white-trimmed sneakers, tan wing-tips, leather sandals -- out of cardboard boxes and two blue tarps that activists had carried like coffins into a pile about two feet high.

"Then, we were fighting apartheid in one country," said Booker, 45, recalling his earlier protests at the embassy. "Now," said the executive director of Africa Action, an advocacy group for Africa in the United States, "we are fighting global apartheid."

The demonstration was organized by Africa Action, the Health GAP Coalition and ACT UP groups in New York and Philadelphia, among others. It coincided, activists said, with similar protests around the world. The global day of protest was initiated by Treatment Action Campaign, a South African AIDS activist group.

Kwame Asante, 44, a member of ACT UP Philadelphia, said some of the same passion that led to the rise of the anti-apartheid movement was evident yesterday. Near the end of a peaceful rally at the embassy, one that ended not in arrests but in a meeting with South African officials, protesters listened to old anti-apartheid songs, the lyrics updated to address the problem of access to AIDS medicines. "I believe it's just as much of a struggle," said Asante, who said his HIV was diagnosed in 1981.

The protesters, including several African immigrants, said the South African government has failed to respond aggressively to the crisis, leaving millions without access to treatment. The country has more people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, than any other. Activists said the number of those infected is roughly 4.6 million. Activists said about 200,000 HIV-positive South Africans died last year.

"We stand before you with a simple message: Act now to put an end to the needless suffering and death," Asia Russell, 26, told the crowd to applause as she stood next to the pile of shoes. Protesters were prevented from getting close to the embassy by a line of uniformed Secret Service officers.

About 2:30 p.m., Russell, of Philadelphia, the director of international policy at Health GAP, read a memorandum that activists planned to give to a representative of the embassy. Acting South African Ambassador Thandabantu Nhlapo came outside to accept it and read a brief statement to the protesters. He thanked those gathered for their advocacy. "As we all know, South Africa's commitment to fighting this disease is well recorded and well reflected in the national programs and resources we have committed," said Nhlapo, whose brief remarks were greeted with applause.

Nhlapo said the government's budget allocation for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases has increased tenfold since 2001. Materials handed out by embassy officials said that the government distributed 350 million free condoms last year and that South Africa has a comprehensive five-year strategy that addresses prevention, treatment and care. Activists said that the treatment strategy is far from adequate and that the government has not taken advantage of all the legal and financial mechanisms available to address the epidemic.

After the rally, a few activists -- including Booker -- were invited inside the embassy for a meeting. "It was a positive meeting," Booker said. "It does represent progress."

See the link below for a photo:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35426-2003Apr24.html Activist Ibibia Altraide lies atop 600 pairs of shoes symbolizing the country's daily AIDS death toll that were dumped at the embassy.
(Frank Johnston -- The Washington Post)

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