Phillipi resident Nontsikelelo Zwelidala lost her common-law husband Christopher Moraka to Aids several months ago, just weeks after he testified before the parliamentary health committee on the need to drop the price of life-saving medicines.
He died with systemic thrush, a painful disease common to people with Aids.
On Wednesday Zwelidala was one of about 200 Capetonians protesting outside the offices of the regulatory authority, the Medicines Control Council (MCC), demanding that a generic version of the drug that could have prolonged her husband's life be registered in South Africa.
"We are suffering and instead of helping us, the government is making it more difficult to get treatment," said Zwelidala, who is HIV-positive. "We need fluconazole (the cure for systemic thrush and another common Aids-related illness, cryptococcal meningitis), we know it could save people's lives, but now they have taken it away."
She is referring to the 5 000 generic fluconazole tablets that lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) bought in Thailand recently - for under R3 each.
In city pharmacies the patented fluconazole sells for over R100.
TAC activist Zackie Achmat brought the drugs into the country - just to have them confiscated by the health authorities, who also laid a criminal charge against him.
The organisation has applied to the MCC for the generic fluconazole to be exempted from licensing requirements and has collected signatures from over 150 doctors and nurses to back their demands.
Several prominent doctors in state hospitals, including Groote Schuur, Red Cross Children's Hospital and Tygerberg, have vouched for the safety and effectiveness of the generic drug.
The TAC has named its campaign to obtain cheaper drugs the Christopher Moraka Defiance Campaign, in honour of their dead colleague.
Demonstrators outside Groote Schuur held up placards on Wednesday reading "Stop abusing patent rights", "We need fluconazole" and "MCC: Do not protect Pfizer's (manufacturer of the original drug) patent".
They toyi-toyied, many of them wearing T-shirts with the words "HIV positive" on their chests, and they demanded to get chance to fight the virus that causes Aids.
Representatives tried to hand a petition to the MCC, but were referred to the council's legal representatives instead.
The organisation applied for exemption for the drug on October 18. Registrar of medicines Precious Matsoso said on Wednesday that the council would meet on Friday to consider the request.
She denied reports that Pfizer had put pressure on the government to deny the exemption.