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Three decades with the pandemic and for us as a country the first case was reported in 1985 when screening for all blood products was promptly introduced.
The HIV awareness message has reached all corners of the country and it is now by design that one sticks to a certain pattern.
I got the shock of my life last week when I boarded a kombi from Hatfield into the city centre around 2pm. The kombi, which passes through Hatfield then Cranborne on its way from Epworth, had a driver and conductor who —  like dogs on heat — made rude comments to women they passed by at any bus stop.
“Mudhara, aya maDVD, kana zvechirwere hazvityise pakadai,” commented the driver.
(Brother, these two women are well built, not even HIV can be a deterrent if I get the chance,” commented the driver.)
The conductor boomed with an equally surprising response.
“Sure, there is nothing to fear, this is what we call manna. It does not keep falling, make use of your given opportunity while still alive,” answered the conductor.
The two, like uncultured brats, went on and on — even to the extent of saying unprintable words.
Had it not started raining I would have dropped off to wait for the next kombi.
One man had the decency to tell them that this was public transport and as such they had to respect all on board.
The conductor, like a mad dog, replied that it was his right to express his sexual desires in the comfort of his “office” which we were unfortunately paying to get a ride into town. So no one could tell him what to say and how to behave.
On getting to Athol Evans bus stop two females who had not even waved the bus to stop were abruptly invited to jump in and get a free ride by virtue of their good looks.
“For you two the ride into town is free, who would not love ‘mermaids’ in their midst? We can end up winding in a restaurant and better still in a lodge latex free,” the conductor bragged.
I felt the two women cringe and did not even answer back.
The kombi took off in a huff as the two ladies paid no attention to the madness.
The insults continued all the way into the city and by then three or so people had joined in the hullabaloo.
With the conductor chairing and the driver seconding, the nauseating talk raged on.
“People have always been dying and will continue to die. You can be run over by a car, you can die of malaria, you can die while giving birth and for us on the road an accident is a sure way to die, so die one day we will. Why should you be a spoil joy and deny us the joys of life?” the conductor snooted.
The driver interjected saying they buried a friend who died in a road traffic accident and this guy was straight and loyal but he died all the same.
“Joe tell them, we laid bro Shanaz kuMbudzi last month, a saint of a man, I pity him — he died in an accident not from an Aids-related illness — so why the fuss,” the driver bellowed.
“All of you in here will definitely die so do not try to teach us how we should die,” said the conductor.
“These days it’s no longer a death sentence, we have MSF doling out ‘life stretchers’ in our hood in Epworth, so why worry?” the conductor added.
One man told the duo that ARVs were not a passport to misbehaving but a life prolonger for those already infected. This fell on deaf ears.
“Like a person with hypertension, so is HIV, it’s now ‘treatable’ so why would you have your sweets in a package,” the two echoed in unison.
One man said with the rate they were going they would contract all the communicable diseases and would surely have a painful death.
The driver answered that the man was too trusting of his wife. Here he was and did he know what the wife was up to?
“You can die my brother; you do not know what your wife is up to right now, so you are not safe at all, it’s wishful thinking if you think you are safe. At least for us, we can kill each other knowingly. Friendly fire is what it is, not false sense of safety that you have all of you in here,” said the driver.
As we approached OK Mart an elderly woman waved the kombi down and they stopped to pick her up. The woman, who knows the driver well, exchanged greetings and went into a discussion with the driver.
“My son last week I had a torrid time from the Fourth Street bus stop. I had reserved R5 for my way back home but the kombis hiked to a dollar. I prayed that I would see you but I didn’t. I only went home two hours later when the price came down to R5 again,” said the grandmother.
“Oh we now ply from the Rezende bus stop mother, ohh you really suffered that was terrible,” said the driver.
The elderly woman went on to announce that she saw the young man from Grade 1 and has been proud of him to date.
“I saw this young man Tonderai grow up, finish his secondary school and get a driver’s licence. I have seen him getting married and sure he is one responsible man I am proud to know,” said the woman.
The bus went dead silent and Tonderai mumbled some inaudibles, thanking the elderly woman. I was more that relieved to drop off at the Second Street bus stop as the “Gauntanamo” like phase came to an end.
Now if one has a “double life” where your neighbours think you are heaven sent but act the opposite in the public eye, where does that lead to?
I would not paint all kombi crews with the same brush but such attitude shows some disorder which if not corrected can spread among peers by the nature of their job and the time they spent at the ranks.
In a book “HIV and Sexual Behaviour Change: Why Not Africa?” by Emily Oster of the University of Chicago she points out that there is limited changes to sexual behaviour in Africa. She goes on to point that behaviour change for those with lesser risk of HIV infection can be a determining factor.
She puts a theory of forward looking, utility maximising individuals. She said these are likely to change their behaviour since they are planning, say for the next 40 or so years, unlike someone who thinks they can die anytime. She said such forward-looking individuals do effect behaviour change unlike the other group.
HIV does not change the prospects of those who think they can die any minute. So it is not a factor to how they live.
Mr Ephraim Gambu, a social commentator,  agreed with the above.
“The way one values life differs. It’s unfortunate that when an African man has an extra dollar to spend he spends it on women,” said Mr Gambu.
“Another factor could be that these guys think they can die any day so they do not see why they should make a fuss to live longer when the nature of their job means they are at risk of getting in a road traffic accident.
“Thirdly, by virtue of this group being involved in multiple concurrent partnerships without consistent use of protection, the risks of the virus spreading in heterosexuals is high,” he said.
Southern Africa remains the epicentre of HIV and if the region is not willing to adopt behaviour change or if they cannot help it, consistent use of condoms, the region risks losing development to mitigating HIV spread.
President Mugabe, speaking recently in the city at the launch of Zimbabwe Parliamentarians on HIV (ZIPAH), applauded the organisation’s set-up and hoped that the honourable members would also  change their behaviour.
“As leaders you need to be exemplary. It is disappointing to note that there are some leaders who are not exemplary in the HIV response. We should not be the epitome of immorality, that is the story, that kind of behaviour that is exemplary is called for,” said the President.
“Our culture has allowed men to have many women, let us be role models . . . let ZIPAH lead in that role,” he added.
He went on to say that he has not seen an MP who has disclosed his status and hoped that ZIPAH would offer that environment.
“I have not seen an MP who has said that I am living positively. I hope ZIPAH would offer a conducive environment where they would disclose their status,” he said.
He went on to say that the prevalence rate of 14 percent was still unacceptably high.
“Prevalence rate of 14 percent in 2011 is still very high,” said the President.
Rightly stated, that is still unacceptably high but can only be seen receding with behaviour change launch in both men and women who otherwise lived on a different page.

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