SA Health Department Boss Calls for Investigation into Glenda Gray

Scientists must be allowed to express their views. We cannot afford witch-hunts

By Nathan Geffen, GroundUp Editor

I don’t agree with everything raised by Glenda Gray in her interview with News24. It seems she made at least one factual error. But some of the points she made are spot-on and important contributions to the debate on how we respond to Covid-19.

Gray is a highly respected scientist and she should feel free to speak her mind, to criticise, without fear of losing her position as the head of the MRC. Of course she should also expect to be criticised in response, and Minister Mkhize has written an emphatic response to her criticisms, as he is entitled to do.

But Anban Pillay’s letter is troubling.

First, this appears to be improper interference. The MRC is a statutory body, but its Board must have independence from government.

Second, Pillay wrote: “Subsequently, I have also received calls from persons regarding Prof Gray’s conduct at the MRC on other matters which I will share once I receive more details from them.” This suggests the health department is willing to dredge up staff grudges against Gray, which exist in any large organisation, to try to get rid of her.

If Pillay succeeds in getting rid of Gray, it will not only result in the MRC losing the services of a first-class scientist, it will likely damage the morale of the institution for a long time to come. It will also alienate leading public health experts, many of whom are sympathetic to Gray, from government. We cannot afford that during this pandemic.

In 2001, an MRC study on mortality was leaked to the media. The study showed how HIV was killing hundreds of thousands of South Africans. The report was one of the most important published in the MRC’s history and it contributed to ultimately changing government policy for the better in 2003.

But its findings conflicted with the AIDS-denialist ideology of then President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. So they pursued a witch-hunt for the leaker of the document.

There are similarities with what’s happening now. In both situations, instead of engaging with the content of what emanated from the MRC, the government opted for revenge.

I don’t want to overstate the similarities though. President Ramaphosa and Health Minister Mkhize are trying very hard to respond to the Covid-19 crisis even though government is making mistakes. So a comparison with Mbeki and Tshabalala-Msimang is not entirely fair. Also Covid-19, because of the speed at which it’s unfolding and our lack of knowledge about it, is a much harder problem to deal with than AIDS was in 2001, when the solutions were relatively straightforward. What needs to be done now is not at all obvious and reasonable people, like Gray and Mkhize, will disagree with each other.

But those disagreements are not necessarily a problem, even if they reach the public domain. On the contrary, this is an opportunity for a healthy public debate. Mkhize, Pillay and the other people in charge of the country’s response to Covid-19 need to participate in that debate, with thicker skins, and without rancour.