A Saturday Chronicle investigation has revealed the
existence of a cartel that “hoards” the male contraceptive and sells it to
desperate people who include sex workers and their clients mostly at night.
According to research, female sex workers are 30 times more
likely to have HIV than the general female population. The prevalence of HIV
among sex workers in Zimbabwe is exceptionally high, estimated at 42,2 percent.
The artificial shortage of condoms puts people who love the night life at high
risk of contracting HIV.
The Chronicle can safely tell you that there are condom
barons who have made free condoms expensive.
This band of audacious “entrepreneurs” has a sophisticated
modus operandi. They ply their trade mainly outside nightclubs, bottle stores
and beer gardens dotted in the city centre and shopping centres in the suburbs.
Some target music festival venues. Their preferred time is after sunset.
As their name implies, their main trade is the sale of
condoms, that vital contraceptive component for sexually active people. And for
good measure, they have a ready market for the merchandise too.
A small box of lubricated non-coloured condoms from Population
Services Zimbabwe has 100 condoms while a bigger one has 1 000. The free
condoms are supposed to be available at nightclubs, beer halls and public
toilets. But the condom barons have created an artificial shortage.
In the past two weeks, several vendors outside nightspots
told Saturday Chronicle that most patrons leaving pubs prefer to buy condoms
from them, instead of the shops and pharmacies where they are a bit expensive.
A pack of three condoms at pharmacies and shops costs between US$2 and US$3
while those commonly known as maDeMbare (the free but not so free condoms) go
for between US$0,50 and US$1 from vendors or R10 for five, depending on the
rate and location.
The operation is simple, explains Darlington Ncube, a
vendor who operates outside popular nightspots, to Saturday Chronicle. All they
need to do is set a table just close to entry points or simply flash a pack to
potential clients but always alert for any sporadic raids, he adds.
“My daily task is simple, I visit most night spots within
the city centre with one aim of collecting condoms placed in toilets. The
condoms would have been donated by various health care organisations.
“After collecting, I distribute to two of my runners who
will sell outside night spots. I also give taxi drivers just in case a client
might look for some. Those condoms are of value to us as we sell them to most
revellers outside night spots,” he says.
The price varies, depending on brand type, he says.
“For a single condom, especially those blue ones, (maDeMbare),
I sell for R2 each and R10 for five. Close to midnight, I would have racked in
no less than R150. I make a lot of money per month,” he says with a chuckle.
That chuckle underlines that to him and others, condoms
provide a source of livelihood of which Pretty Nyoni proudly attests to.
“Surely I cannot spend the greater part of the night at
times in freezing cold selling condoms if they were not of no value.
“I have been selling condoms for several years now and I
have created a regular client base. As they say, ngabona i gap to take
advantage of and make money. I consider myself a service provider. Some people
are embarrassed to queue at a supermarket to just buy condoms. Some feel like
everyone is staring at them and the cashier is judging them. They simply come
to me.”
However, there is a major downside to the condom baron’s
line of trade.
They starve people in genuine need of condoms at the time
of need, says a patron at a local pub, who preferred to be identified as Mtha.
“Imagine agreeing with someone to be intimate when most
convenient stores would have closed and only depend on free condoms usually
placed in the toilets but only to find empty boxes.
“However, those condoms are sold outside a nightclub and
you don’t have to loose money to buy them. One ends up having unprotected sex
risking contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or getting pregnant.
“In my view, this practice now feeds the narrative that so
and so got infected with such and such a disease acquired by having sex with a
partner who frequents nightspots. For me it’s wrong. Night clubs or beer halls
don’t infect people with deadly diseases. If condoms are not stolen and sold,
people would easily prevent themselves.”
The Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council is also
worried about condom barons. It says despite co-ordination with the parent
Ministry — the Ministry of Health and Child Care — in implementing the public
sector condom programme to ensure condoms are distributed and available in all
public health facilities and public spaces, unscrupulous individuals are
deliberately throwing spanners into the works.
“The Government is committed to ensuring that condoms are
readily available to all who need them. All health facilities in the country
numbering over 2 000 have public sector condoms delivered at their doorstep.
“This commitment goes further and ensures that condoms are
available in hot spots, private pharmacies, tertiary institutions, community
based workers, night spots and gatherings. These channels ensure the condom is
available to users when they need them.
“Unscrupulous individuals have a tendency of collecting
these (condoms) from the various outlets and selling them to the general
public. The public should know these are available for free and should desist
from buying them,” Bulawayo and Matabeleland North ZNFPC Service Delivery
Co-ordinator, Janet Godzi said.
However, she said condoms will continue to be availed to
outlets and continued sensitisation of staff manning these facilities will be
done. Chronicle
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