Johannesburg - Mpumalanga's health MEC has berated arthritis sufferers for rubbing condoms on their aching joints, believing the lubricant will ease the pain, The Times reported on Wednesday.
“She called on them to stop because condoms are meant for something other than rubbing on knees,” MEC Candith Mashego-Dlamini's spokesman Ronnie Masilela was quoted as saying.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's spokesman Joe Maila said condom lubricant could help arthritis sufferers.
A Cape Town grandmother, who declined to be named, told The Times: “It is not a cure for my arthritis but it eases the pain.”
A Johannesburg hiker said he put condoms over his emergency kit.
“My wife was really upset when she found the condoms but you can carry water in them,” he told the paper.
Sapa