Commemorative Day: Healthy Partnerships Taking Public Works to Higher Levels (isiZulu)

Believe it or not. Anele Mkila was the department’s guest and luckiest man amongst a bevy of three beauties who were on the programme line-up to deliver speeches at a prestigious commemorative occasion. It was an event held at the Public Works’ Head Office Auditorium in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday 3 December 2019. His ‘frozen type’ presentation, titled “Why there are still new infections?” was very formal but respectful and showed no prejudice, disinterest or hesitation at all. He was ‘spoton’ to issues. He wanted to leave precise ‘food-for-thought’ to the audience and the reader.

In his address, Anele touched on aspects such as “sexual recklessness”, “poverty and unemployment”, “rising statistics of infections – especially amongst the youth in South Africa”, “risk behaviours”, “choosing the right diet” , “drinking and drug problem”, “social isolation, loneliness and peer pressure”, “sexual relations with older men”, “less exercise” and “economic pressures”. There may be more aspects or factors from other schools of thought.

According to Mr. Mkila, there seems to be significant variation in behaviours and outcomes amongst the ‘born frees’ generation – which of Anele calls ‘Year 2000 +’. There are trends in risk behaviours resulting to negative outcomes amongst youth. In his presentation, Anele analyzed that risk behaviours is associated with a range of negative outcomes such as low educational attainment, being bullied, emotional and health problems. However, one is unable to identify whether the decline or increase in risk behaviours and negative outcomes applies for all groups of young people. In particular, one cannot either confirm whether this applies to the most vulnerable, who participate in multiple risk behaviours. On the other hand, health risk behaviours known to result in poorer outcomes in adulthood are generally established in late childhood and adolescence. His assertion is that the demographic information about who is most affected may have an informed indication on how exactly the trends in sexual behavior are happening at once. He explained on the behavioral attitude of “recklessness” amongst the youth. This may thus far affirm the postulations that the sexual behaviors known to be contributing to widespread sexually transmitted diseases (STD) transmission have almost nothing to do with how people behave sexually - rather, it is ‘riskier’ sexual behaviour that is being had.

Other factors that Anele identified as potentially contributing to the record-high rates of reported sexually transmitted diseases are a rise in ‘condom-less’ sex and a rise in high-risk sexual behaviors associated with drug use. Young people in the province might have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections than older persons. This may also suggest that there does not appear to have been a dramatic shift in sexual behaviours over the last decade or so.