ABSTRACT
South Africa's position in comparative data is a stark example of the extent of the problem. The first two Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases in South Africa were reported in 1982. Since then, South Africa's Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/AIDS pandemic has become one of the worst in the world. Researchers and scholars have examined the long-run economic impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in a number of studies that indicate the pandemic will have tremendous consequences for Africa. Opportunistic infections associated with HIV positive status, such as tuberculosis, have increased since the onslaught of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. While most conceptualizations of security focus on threats from groups or states, HIV/AIDS poses a challenge to this traditional conceptualization of a security threat because it is a virus. The pandemic's potential impact on government services is significant, but extends far beyond the national political configurations that evolved from the post-apartheid transition.
