Community health organisations and activists say female condoms are scarce, while finger and tongue condoms are largely unavailable in clinics, community health service centres and local shops. This leaves some women and members of the LGBTQ+ community with limited options for safer sex. 

Malehlohonolo Katole, an LGBTQ+ activist based in Sebokeng in Gauteng’s Vaal Triangle, says the shortage of finger and tongue condoms became personal after being treated for a sexually transmitted disease (STI) last year. 

“I was infected with an STI a year ago. It was treated at my community healthcare facility; I was given medication and encouraged to practice safer sex,” says Katole. 

Katole says the healthcare worker who treated her did not explain other safer-sex options relevant to sex between women. 

“Safer sex condoms that are accommodative for my sexual option were not available in my local healthcare facility or at the local shops,” says Katole.

Few options beyond male condoms

Health-e News recently reported that condom use remains low in South Africa, fuelling a rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs). A surveillance report tracking STI symptoms at selected clinics between 2021 and 2024 found that only 3% of clients reported using a condom at their last sexual encounter. 

The latest District Health Barometer, published in April 2026, also flags female condom distribution as low. 

South African national data on STI burden among women who have sex with women is limited, but the surveillance report found that oral sex was reported by 39.5% of all attendees at their most recent sexual encounter. 

Katole says there is not enough education on barrier methods beyond male condoms that may benefit the LGBTQ+ community. 

While STIs such as gonorrhoea and herpes can be transmitted through oral, anal and vaginal sex, the World Health Organisation promotes the use of condoms and other barrier methods as the most effective protection against STIs.

Katole says these products are seldom available. 

“I have not used finger or tongue condoms before. I would use them if they were available at my healthcare facility, local pharmacies and shops in my community,” says Katole. 

“It is a disadvantage not to have finger and tongue condoms because I also engage in other sexual options which puts me at higher risk of being exposed to STI’s.”

Katole says she only became aware of these products through LGBTQ+ events, and not through public health campaigns or education. 

“If available, they are usually promotional items on display at exhibition tables. It is very rare to even recognise them if you have never seen them,” she says.

National stock shortages limit access

Holy Pentecost Projects, a community organisation in Sedibeng in the Vaal Triangle, that provides HIV testing, counselling, and antiretroviral services, says female condom shortages are affecting access to preventative care. 

The organisation’s Zanele Tsotetsi says they have been out of female condoms for two months.

“The department [of Health] has not delivered female condoms since April to our organisation, and finger and tongue condoms are scarce; we never have them,” Tsotetsi says. 

According to Tsotetsi, most clients still prefer male condoms because they are better known and easier to carry. 

“Clients still hold on to old information that female condoms need to be inserted at least an hour before sexual intercourse. Female condoms can be used immediately when the need arises,” she says. 

South Africa’s national strategic HIV, TB and STI plan states healthcare services should meet the needs of groups at higher risk, including the LGBTQ+ community, and that people should be able to access care more easily.

Civil society groups such as the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation acknowledge that LGBTQ+ people still face barriers to inclusive healthcare in South Africa. It launched its LGBTQI+ Healthcare Equality Programme last year in the Western Cape, with plans to expand nationally.

Tsotetsi says current outreach programmes by the Department of Health are not reaching the LGBTQ+ community in clinics and healthcare facilities.

“Communities still need more awareness and education to reduce the stigma around finger and tongue condoms. Additionally, the Department of Health needs to improve the distribution of these condoms so that everyone can feel included in the fight against HIV and STIs.”