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Wikipedia`s edit history for the article “HIV/Aids in South Africa” shows repeated vandalism from IP address 164.151.130.36. This address resolves to a machine called mx1.statssa.gov.za, located just off the Ben Schoeman highway in Centurion, and is owned and operated by the South African government.

SA`s acting statistician-general Dr Rashad Cassim says the location provided is the State IT Agency`s premises, on John Vorster Drive, in Centurion, which hosts Statistics SA`s DNS server.

Repeated deletes

The edit history of the HIV/Aids entry shows the person – or persons – making multiple deletions on 27 July.

In the first change, the person removed the introduction to the topic along with supporting references.

This was replaced with the comment: “I think that was all bullshit, thats why i deleted it. Thank you motherf***er! [sic]”

The second edit sees the “effects” section of the entry removed. The third and fourth edits remove references to Pieter Fourie`s article: "The Political Management of HIV and Aids in South Africa: One burden too many?" and the Aids Portal SA Web page respectively.

What remained of the entry was the section describing the actions being taken by government to curb the spread of the disease.

Other Wikipedia contributors reversed the changes within minutes and vandalism was cited. Wikipedia`s policy cites vandalism as “any addition, removal, or change of content made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Wikipedia.”

Freedom fails

The Freedom of Expression Institute`s (FXI`s) executive director Jane Duncan has called on Stats SA to act decisively on the “extremely disturbing” issue.

“Under the Public Service Act, government employees are ethically obliged to promote freedom of information. Clearly this person was acting in a censorial position and trying to skew the picture of HIV/Aids in the country. This is in direct contravention of the obligations of public servants.”

She adds: “Given the controversy surrounding SA`s approach to HIV/Aids, it is extremely important for government to distance itself from this matter. If Stats SA fails to act, it will create the impression that they endorse the actions,” she explains.

Sandy Kalyan, the Democratic Alliance`s spokesperson on health and HIV/Aids, has called for an urgent investigation into the matter.

“The DA condemns the actions of this Stats SA employee in the strongest possible manner. An investigation needs to be done to establish the reason for the irresponsible action and under whose instructions the person was acting.”

Adds Kalyan: “If the employee was found to be acting on the say-so of the Department of Health, it would confirm to the DA that health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is still in denial on the matter of HIV/Aids.”

Identity unknown

However, Cassim denies the action formed part of any strategy on the part of the organisation.

“Stats SA does not condone or support the activities described. While the editing of Wikipedia entries is not specifically forbidden [in its Internet policy], the policy does prohibit any activity that `could lead to civil or criminal litigation against Stats SA`,” he says.

Cassim says Stats SA will attempt to uncover the identity of the person responsible and appropriate disciplinary procedures will follow.

However, he notes the IP address acts as a proxy to the Internet community for all Stats SA users. As a result, it is not possible to link this to a specific individual.

Both the DA and FXI have warned they will closely watch the organisation`s progress on the investigation.

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Comments (6)

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written by NurseBetty, August 23, 2007

Oooh - nice one guys. :-)

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written by Charmed, August 23, 2007

SA wanted to be in the running with the CIA and Vatican :upset

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written by Chilli, August 23, 2007

I hope StatsSA's web server can handle the traffic. I'm sure most people who got the MyDL email clicked the link out of curiosity, just to see where it leads. I won't be surprised if their site goes down later this afternoon.

Just a thought: When a security log-in screens gets this much advertisement the chances for possible hacking increases and the chance for a hacker to actually get in increases exponentially.

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written by fermit, August 23, 2007

What a blatant disregard for democracy and for freedom of speech as dictated under the constitution.

The government was very gung-ho creating a constitution for South Africa yet when it applies to free speech against them suddenly it's not such a good idea anymore.

As for tracing this person they CAN trace this person. Their proxy should reveal an internal IP address of the offender. If they do not have such records then it needs to be asked WHY. They spend millions and millions of Rands on IT infrastructure yet what type of lame proxy do they have that does not keep records?

Additionally, the public are expected to keep various records for several years surely the GOVT themselves should be keeping proxy records and stuff of their users for several years too?

They will probably say "eish, the files are gone" ... what BOLLOCKS !!!!

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written by Nalayrag, August 23, 2007

:sigh

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written by Lun, August 23, 2007

dear Gov and Stats SA, next time use internet cafe or WiFi hotspots ... u are not going to be embarra*sed like this , just use some brains

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