Duration: 5 min 26 sec

Transcript

KHOPOTSO: Sibusiso ke mohlankana a lemo tse 18. Ke mohahi wa Pimville, Soweto, Gauteng moo a tswaletsweng teng. O sa ntse a tsamaya sekolo. Mafelong a beke o a koro-koropa ho iphumanele masheleng. Na ebe yena ke eng se mo etsang hore a sebedise kgohlopo pele ho thobalano?  

SIBUSISO: It actually depends on the condoms. You get government condoms, which are just made for the quantity. They’€™re not quality. Let’€™s just say for instance, me as a young man, it is my number one priority to carry a condom wherever I go. But now, carrying a government condom, you don’€™t feel like you’€™re carrying a condom. It’€™s like you’€™re carrying nothing.

KHOPOTSO: Is it cheap? Does it lower your status as an individual?

SIBUSISO: That’€™s one of the reasons, you know. It’€™s for free’€¦ You feel shy, you know, if you’€™re going to have to take out a free condom. At least, when you’€™re taking out, let’€™s say Lovers Plus, you’€™re proud. The chick must see it and everything, you know. When you roll it on, whatever, you don’€™t mind. You don’€™t mind her seeing that.

KHOPOTSO: Siza a lemo tse 27, hape e leng motswalle wa Sibusiso, o di beha ka mokgwa ona.

SIZA: Okay, though there is a status factor behind everything, it’€™s more of safety than status. You’€™ve got to be safe. You’€™ve got to have pleasure. That’€™s why you’€™re having sex. It’€™s based on pleasure more than any other thing. And there’€™s no discomfort in pleasure’€¦ So, when you have government condoms and there’€™s discomfort, obviously you’€™ll never use them. As a result, (he laughs) you fall for the trap. That’€™s the result of using the government condoms’€¦ You see, one thing I think, Africans are very big. Hey, those guys are very big. It’€™s a known factor. So, you might think wena you have a condom. And yet, you don’€™t. You know why? Because it’€™s a government condom.

KHOPOTSO: So, they should make them specially for darkies, and specially for whites and specially for’€¦

SIZA: Not really’€¦ Government has to make them up to standard. They have to be classy, so that every person can be comfortable with using condoms.

KHOPOTSO: Ernest Buthelezi o dilemo tse 42. O se a kgaohane le mma bana ba hae.

Yena o re bothata ka kgohlopo ha se hore na e ja bokae, kapa hore na batho ba e beha boemong bo phahameng kapa tjhee, kapa hore na e kgolo kapa e nyenyane, kapa hore ke ya mmuso kapa tjhee. O nahana hore bothata ke hore batho ha ba tsebe hore kgohlopo e sebediswa jwang.

ERNEST BUTHELEZI: What I would suggest our government to do is to educate the poorest of the poor in our nation about the use of condoms and the importance of using condoms. Most of us don’€™t even know what a condom is. We don’€™t know the difference of a government condom. We don’€™t know the difference of Lovers Plus. And we don’€™t even know the price. All I’€™m interested in is ‘€˜do I have food for my kids? Can I have sex with my wife after having sex with my girlfriend?’€™ So, we need to be educated as per the use of condoms. It’€™s not that we’€™re rejecting condoms. We can see people are dying because of this pandemic.

KHOPOTSO: Glen Mabuza, kapa MamaG ha ba mo reneketsa, ke mookamedi wa mokgatlo o tsejwang ka hore ke AIDS Counselling Care and Training Centre, e sepetleleng sa Chirs Hani Baragwanath, Soweto, Gauteng. O dumela hore sesosa sa bothata ba ho sa amohelehe ha dikgohlopo tsa kgale se bakuwe ke mokgwa oo mmuso o ileng wa qala ho tsebisa tshebediso ya dikgohlopo.

GLEN MABUZA: I think in every situation, be it welfare grants or whatever, if people are not being involved in owning up processes we’€™re going to see this kind of an issue where people are being treated as recipients. So, people do not participate. And I think because it was not people who made choices people were never given a platform to dialogue and to understand and to sort of interrogate’€¦ So, I think the condom issue like HIV, there is just a huge stigma around condom use.

KHOPOTSO: Would you say that it is a rebellious stance that people are taking not to use condoms?

GLEN MABUZA: Ja, it’€™ll be rebellious or it will be passive. People are saying: ‘€˜Uh-huh. Go on with your thing. It is your thing. You came with it.’€™ And because people have been hard hit with a lot of social ills from apartheid to poverty. So, if you need to come in to people you need to understand who people are. So, I think even the involvement part ‘€“ people were not involved. The government was going on about again and again giving things that are cheap, are free. People can be however poor, but we have fought apartheid, we’€™re saying no more handouts. We’€™re saying hand-up. And hand-up is people getting involved.

KHOPOTSO: Ha a tsebisa dikgohlopo tsena tsa ‘€˜Choice’€™ letona la naha la tsa maphelo Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, o ile a ikgantsha ka hore lefapha la hae le ile la etsa dikamano le batjha ho utlwa maikutlo a bona. O re batjha ba lemong tse pakeng tse 18 ho isa ho 35 ba ile ba thabela mebala e metjha e kganyang ya sephuthelwana sa dikgohlopo tsa ‘€˜Choice’€™ e bolou le tshehla. Le ha ho le jwalo, nna ka lemo tse 28, ke ile ka fosa ha ke qala ho bona sephuthelwana sena ka nahana hore ke dibasekeiti.

E bile ka morao ho metsotso ha ke bona kgaitsedinyana e nngwe e tshwere sephuthelwana sena moo ke ileng ka buleha mahlo ka bona hore, tjhee, ke dikgohlopo ka mono. Ba bang ba teng ba entseng phoso ena. Empa ka mora hore ba e lokise ba dumellana ka ntho e le nngwe. O ka re letona la tsa maphelo le ne le tiisitse ha le re batjha ba tla thabela sephuthelwana se setjha sa dikgohlopo tsa ‘€˜Choice.’€™ Empa potso ke hore na ba tla tswela pele ho sebedisa dikgohlopo tsena ntle le pelaelo?

E-mail Khopotso Bodibe