By Sharika Regchand and Sinegugu Ndlovu
Officials of the Msunduzi Municipality will do their bit to mark World Aids Day on Saturday by handing out condoms at intersections in Pietermaritzburg.
Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo, her deputy, Mervin Dirks, Municipal Manager Rob Haswell, Speaker Alpha Shelembe and Chief Whip Sehla Ngubane would hand the condoms and snack bars with the slogan "Each of us matters, HIV and Aids can be prevented" on their wrappers to motorists and passers-by.
Hlatshwayo said the manager of mayoral special projects and programmes, Sanelisiwe Ndlovu, came up with the idea of involving the council's leadership in the fight against HIV and Aids.
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'A leader lies within each of us' While Hlatshwayo was the deputy mayor in 2001, she established the Msunduzi HIV/Aids strategy, which was followed by other municipalities. It also won national awards.
Dirks said his message for the campaign was: "If you are single then abstain from sex; if you are married, have one partner and be faithful; and if you are going to have sex, use protection."
Ndlovu said she wanted the officials to be fully involved in World Aids Day, and handing out condoms would send the message that safe sex should be practised and that HIV could be prevented.
The provincial World Aids Day events will be held at Newcastle's Osizweni Stadium on Saturday.
Led by Premier S'bu Ndebele, the theme of the commemoration will be individual leadership.
The Youth Ambassadors Programme will also be launched at the stadium. Matriculated youths have been trained and employed by the Health Department to visit homes in the Amajuba District to educate people on HIV and Aids, other sexually-transmitted infections and tuberculosis prevention.
Health Department spokesperson Chris Maxon said the aim of the event was to encourage individuals to take the lead in fighting the spread of HIV and Aids.
"A leader lies within each of us," he said.
"Families, the private and business sectors, the individual and communities all have a role to play in the fight against the disease."
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This article was originally published on page 4 of The Mercury on November 30, 2007
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