HER family wanted to wait before telling the 13-year-old she was HIV-positive . . .
But she was allegedly informed by strangers of her status!
On Friday, workers from non-profit organisation Exodus Foundation Ministries allegedly tested her in the street in front of her schoolmates.
The girl’s 33-year-old mum from Malukazi near Isipingo, KZN, told Daily Sun she wanted the organisation to pay for the emotional damage caused.
“My daughter has been crying since the incident. She doesn’t want to go to school. She fears what her friends might do if she goes back to the same school.”
The mum told the People’s Paper she was called to the scene by a neighbour, who found out about her daughter’s nightmare.
“She told me the testers told her my daughter was HIV-positive after she enquired about a strip with two lines she saw lying on the ground,” said the mum.
She said when she found her daughter, the shaking girl was holding the paper that had the results.
“I asked why they tested the kids in an open area, but they did not give me a proper answer,” she said.
The organisation’s director, Zandile Mthembu, said they tried approaching the parents, but they were very angry.
“They want us to pay,” said Mthembu.
“They threatened us with their lawyers. We will wait for their lawyers.”
KZN Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo said the department would assist the family with counselling and by tracking down the organisation.
“What they did was wrong,” Dhlomo told Daily Sun.
“Our professionals know that testing people against their will is illegal.
“HIV testing is always done in a respectable manner to protect the patient’s dignity.”