HIV infections on the increase in Vhembe area

“The rate of HIV infections on the farms in Vhembe is on the increase. Our people need to be told that AIDS is everywhere. We all need to work together to prevent AIDS-related deaths,” said the managing director of Munna Ndinnyi, Mr Bardwell Mufunwaini.

He was one of the speakers during an awareness campaign at Matsila farm a fortnight ago.

Mufunwaini said the campaign was a continuation of the wellness campaign that the organisation had launched. “Our institution has a mandate to dispense the best service to the community and we will only achieve that through healthy and sound employees,” he said. He added that employees needed to know their status, and those infected should get the necessary support.

According to him, it was a historic campaign, with large numbers of people attending the event. “There is no use in keeping quiet while our people are dying of AIDS on a daily basis. The disease is no longer a secret and everyone should speak openly about it. How many more must die before our people realize that the pandemic is mercilessly wiping out our people? There is a need to tell our community members to be more careful about the disease because, once the virus affects you, there is no cure.”

Chief Livhuwani Matsila spoke openly about the dangers of the disease and emphasised the importance of education as a move to instil a sense of responsibility among the communities. He said that it was high time that employees took charge of their lives. "The only way of taking control of one's life is by knowing your HIV status. It is the correct start to apply for voluntarily HIV testing," he added.

Date:12 November 2015

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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