As the van stops, people in a que turns to it. A man wearing a blue overall gets out of it and turns to the back of it and opens the canopy. He takes out boxes written “choice” and take them inside the building. One young lady exclaims, ” yoh! Who uses choice condoms in 2016? The poor guy is waisting his time and the condoms are a sign of disrespect to the people.”
People choose to purchase condoms with fancy names for their sexual activities because their status, pride and ego does not allow them to go below their high standards by using the free ones. To them it is: ” why go the free way if you can afford the high way?”
They purchase this condoms because according to them they are 100% proven to be of quality by experts for them to not get sexual transmitted diseases and prevents pregnancy. They believe the quality is genuine as they are socially motivated on the social media, television, radio, magazines and newspapers.
In South Africa, many people do not use the free “choice” condoms provided by the government, especially the youth almost on a daily basis. This is because they either choose to purchase the branded price tagged ones or not use condoms at all.
A household survey was conducted and revealed in 2014. The survey found just over two-thirds (67.5%) of young men aged between 15 and 24 reported using condoms at their last sexual encounter in 2012, down from 85.2% in 2008.
Among men aged between 25 and 49, condom use fell to 36.1%, down from 44.1% over the same period. Women also reported using less condoms.
“In 2012 more people were buying condoms than getting them for free (from the government). We are not sure why,” said Professor Olive Shisana, CEO of Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) describing condom use as “imperative” for preventing sexual transmission of HIV. Overall, 52.9% of the household survey participants said they had never used condoms.
The free condoms are available everywhere. If you go to the public clinics and hospitals even the private health facilities, these free condoms are there. At universities, colleges, tarvens, shebeens, tuck Shops, and different organisations the free condoms are available but they are neglected to an extend that they are turned into nuisance rubbish. They are thrown everywhere just like papers which pollutes the land and even the water.
Many people do not use the free condoms because it is reported that they have an unpleasant smell, they are more lubricated, they break easil ,they do not serve the purpose they were made for, some claimed that they are allergic to them, whereas some said that they are for the poor ones. Some young men have reported that it is to impress and please the sexual partners and to appear “cool” to their friends.
Some people use condoms of their choice based on preference which is not necessarily influenced by the positive and negative judgement towards them, which include quality or money or what other people think.
Most people if not all do not use condoms because of poor communication between them and their sexual partners and it is reported that they reduce sexual pleasure between both the genders. It is also reported that they do not use condoms because of the fear of being identified as “high risk” or as part of a stigmatised population.
Other factors that leads to people to not using condoms are: fear of rejection by the sexual partners, fear of emotional and physical abuse of the sexual partner, it is a sign of infidelity and dishonesty , it is believed that using a condom is a waste of sperms, it is reported that some Religious beliefs are against it, some said that they are painful to use, some believe that their partners are faithful enough to not be having mutual sexual partners outside their relationship or marriages and some are doing it for the fun of it.
“Free condoms are as genuine as the branded price tagged condoms. There are standards that manufacturers have to adhere to in terms of quality in order for them to distribute the condoms. These standards are regulated by the South African Berrau of Standards (SABS) and the national health department. The government would not distribute free condoms if the quality was compromised or if they did not meet the standards set out by the SABS, because they would be commiting crime otherwise” said Thabo Malesa, an analytical chemistry graduate from Tshwame University of Technology (TUT).
What many people do not know or rather ignoring is that condoms are condoms, whether they are made of metal or animal skin or if they cost R500 or R1000. If they do not know how and where to store them, how to use them and for how long, they will not be protected against STDs, HIV/AIDS, and pregnancy.
Today, the free condoms are even available in strawberry and grape flavour yet people still pay for condoms. However, this is not to say that they must stop buying condoms of their choice but to not badmouth and persuade people to stop using the free condoms because this causes many of them to not using condoms at all as they cannot afford the costly ones.
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