By Sonya Bell
The 10 000 young people who visit the ANC Youth League's official website every month are seeing paid advertisements from a South African company selling a herbal product as a remedy for Aids.
The advertisement, seen at the bottom of the main page on Thursday, reads "Herbs that may kill HIV" and invites users to click to learn more.
A league media spokesperson who was shown the Revivo advertisement denied it was a cause for concern. "It's just an ad. Don't read too much into it," said Magdalene Moonsamy.
But Rebecca Hodes of the Treatment Action Campaign said the TAC was in the process of investigating the company, Revivo, whose office is in Cape Town.
The company came to the TAC's attention after a number of calls from people asking if the product would work for them. The inquires have been coming "consistently", said Hodes.
The youth league has been selling advertising space on its website since January, said webmaster Oscar Masubelele.
Previously, it had relied on donations, which failed to cover the costs of maintaining the website. Private advertisers were also approached, but the response was poor.
Now, advertisements co-ordinated by Google keep the website running at its estimated cost of R35 000 a month. This includes the cost of electricity, bandwidth and manpower, said Masubelele.
There are no mechanisms in place to control what is advertised on the site.
Hodes expressed concern about the target audience of the advertisement on the website. Youth had the highest HIV prevalence rate in SA, she said, and they were "essential" in the fight against the virus.
But Moonsamy defended the advertisement policy.
"As a political organisation, we need to find ways of funding," she said. She denied that the youth league has a responsibility to monitor its website's content. She said young people were in a position to evaluate the advertisement for themselves.
"This is a small little thing at the bottom of the page," said Moonsamy. "If you are really curious enough, you will go and see what it's all about."
A click on the advertisement takes the user to the Revivo website, where the company's herbal product is for sale for R375 a bottle. The website claims the product will increase a patient's CD4 count and reduce the viral load.
The company's owner, Feroz Osman-Latib, said he was unaware that Revivo was being advertised on the league's website. He said it is sold in stores across the country, as well as online.