President Zuma signed a bill that seems to be one of the greatest steps in the history of trying to combat HIV.
From now on, every person who gets tested and is found to be HIV positive will not just get counseling and medication. They will also get a mark in form of a tattoo near their genitals according to the bill signed by the president.
Jacob Zuma after signing the bill, said :
THE MARK IS TO PROTECT THOSE WHO CANt T SAY NO TO SEX. I MEAN IF YOU CAN’T READ BETWEEN THE LINES YOU SHOULD READ BETWEEN THE LEGS BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE STATUS WOULD BE TATTOOED. THE CHOICE TO BE HIV POSITIVE IS NOW IN YOUR HANDS OR YOUR GENITALS FOR THAT MATTER…. WE ALSO ENCOURAGE THOSE WHO HAD BEEN LIVING WITH THE VIRUS TO GO TO THE NEAREST PUBLIC HOSPITALS TO GET THEIR STATUS TATTOOED IN
President Zuma volunteered to be the first South African citizen to get his status tatted near his genitals and he also announced that the first 10 million people(who already tested positive) to volunteer to have their HIV statuses tatted on their genitals would be given a R50 000 funeral expense voucher.
South Africa wakes up each day to shock Africa,from xenophobic attacks to now marking HIV Positive people in their country. Are they animals to be stamped and marked so as not to be stolen? I feel that this is a discriminative move more than a helping one.