President Jacob Zuma Set To Pay HIV+ South Africans Who Wear 'Status' Tattoo

South African President, Jacob Zuma has reportedly signed a new bill which requires HIV positive South Africans to volunteer to be marked near their genital area with a tattoo depicting their status in a new bid to curtail the spread of HIV. According to Radio City, he said the first 10 million who do it will also be paid an equivalent of N840,000 (50,000 Rands) each. It is in form of a funeral expense voucher.

Zuma is reported to to have volunteered to be the first South African citizen to get his HIV status tatted near his genitals. After signing the bill, he said;

“The mark is to protect those who can’t say no to sex. I mean if you can’t read between the lines you should read between the legs because that’s where the status would be tatted.The choice to be HIV positive is now in your hands or your genitals for that matter. 

We also encourage those who had been living with the virus to go to the nearest public hospitals to get their status tatted in. Let there be no more shame, no more blame, no more discrimination and no more stigma. Let the politicisation and endless debates about HIV and AIDS stop.” Zuma noted.

HIV and AIDS estimates by UNAIDS (2013), show that the number of people living with HIV in South Africa averages 6.3 million.