City, province spread safe sex message in Dieploot
21 November 2016
The City of Johannesburg’s Health and Social Department and the Gauteng Department of Health have distributed thousands of free condoms among the youth in Diepsloot during an educational and youth engagement campaign to bring sexually transmitted diseases to a halt.
The Condom Blitz and Youth Conversations, as the campaign was called, was led by Gauteng MEC for Health Qedani Mahlangu and City of Johannesburg Ward 95 Councillor Kate Mphahlela on Saturday, November 19.
It was also graced by Kamohelo Bombo, presenter of SABC1’s youth programme Shift, and Katleho Ramane, a DJ on the local community radio station Sloot FM.
The campaign targeted taxi ranks, the local shopping centre, spaza shops, taverns, homes and locals in the streets.
Some of those who took part included the youth, learners, students and representatives of churches, community structures, non-governmental organisations and non-profit organisations.
All in all, more than 20 000 bags of condoms were distributed.
MEC Mahlangu later told the youth at the packed Muzomhle Primary School hall that they were the country’s future leaders.
“You need to dream big. To be ambitious. To have goals. To be focused. Otherwise the opportunities out there will escape you. The future is in your hands, so is your health. You cannot lead when you’re not healthy. Take charge of your health,” MEC Mahlangu said.
Her message was focused more on the girl child. “You’re doomed if you’ll start having sex before the age of 20 or even before completing your high school education. If I were to choose for you, I’d say get a university education and get your career up and running first. Boys and sex should be the last thing on your mind,” she said.
Cllr Mphahlela said her office was inundated with complaints from young girls that local clinics were not helpful.
“They say nurses are rude, cheeky and unco-operative when they visit the clinic with a sex-related complaint. To those young girls, most of them between 12 and 16 years of age, I want to say: You have no business to be in the clinic with such a complaint in the first place,” Cllr Mphahlela said.
She said girls that age should be in school or libraries studying or attending local youth or cultural clubs.
MEC Mahlangu said during the campaign she was told stories that worried her. “Some people told us the lubricant in the condoms made them sick. Others said sex wearing a condom was less enjoyable. There was a girl who said her boyfriend left her because she demanded he use a condom.
“Another woman, an unemployed beautiful lady, said her provider-boyfriend would stop ‘blessing’ her if she insisted on condom use. There were many stories and myths around condoms. This is a serious concern,” MEC Mahlangu said.
She said more educational and information sessions like this were “more necessary than ever before”.
The national Department of Health plans to distribute more than 3 billion scented male condoms, 54 million female condoms and 60 million sachets of lubricants in 5 000 sites throughout the country over three years.