20 Dec 2017

Ghanzi District Council chairperson, Mr Galethaole Sixpence says sexually transmitted infections remain a concern in the district.

Speaking during a council meeting recently, Mr Sixpence said since April 2017 to September 2017, 201 people had tested positive for sexually transmitted diseases, and that there were 7 414 people living with HIV in Ghanzi District, adding that 3 701 were receiving ARV drugs.

He also noted that there were 661 cases of sexually transmitted infections in a space of three months. Mr Sixpence added that partner testing was low in the district.  He noted that 390 women registered for antenatal care in the district, and that only 61 male partners tested with them.

He appealed for consistent and correct condom usage, and urged all those who tested HIV positive to visit the nearest health facilities and enroll for ARV treatment. The chairperson was also worried about gender based violence cases in the district, adding that they recorded 316 offences since the beginning of the year.

He noted that there were 40 rape cases, nine defilement cases, seven murder cases, 143 assault cases, six threat to kill cases and 79 cases of assault occasioning actual body harm.

Mr  Sixpence urged people to seek refuge and counselling from pastors, social workers and family members, and that they should seek divine intervention from God.

On other issues, he said the district experienced livestock losses and damages to property due to wildlife, especially predators such as lions, leopards, wild dogs and elephants. He added that four wild dog puppies were captured in the last quarter.

Mr Sixpence said by the end of November 2017, over P477 000 was owed to members of the community as compensation arrears. Regarding Primary School Leaving Examination results, he said the average performance of schools was 16.30 per cent which indicated a marginal improvement of 0.3 per cent.

He noted that Kgaphamadi Primary School has remained the best performing school in the last four consecutive years.ENDS