The socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS on community development at Fetakgomo Municipality, Limpopo Province

Abstract

HIV and AIDS pandemic poses a threat to both poor and rich communities alike. Communities face a developmental challenge as HIV and AIDS kills the lives of people who should improve their socio-economic position. It destroys both the Constitutional rights to life and human dignity. This is seen when people get sick and lose their potential to contribute to the development of their communities. The Fetakgomo communities, in the Limpopo Province, face the same challenge of fighting the pandemic for their social and economic development without sufficient resources. This study focuses on the socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS on community development in Fetakgomo Municipality, Limpopo Province. Fetakgomo communities are situated about ± 90 km, South of Burgersfort. These communities are mostly poor and rural. The researcher used non-probability purposive sampling for this study. Three communities were selected and their leaders were chosen to participate in the study. Through qualitative research, the qualitative data were obtained through person to-person interviews and focus group interviews. The results of the study indicate that the social lives of community members are disrupted through death from the pandemic. In the two communities – Ga-Nchabeleng and Mohlaletse – there are orphans who are created by the pandemic. There is also a problem of lack of social cohesion created by prejudice around the disease, which raises a challenge in fighting the pandemic in the three villages. The issue of confidentiality compounds the situation in fighting the pandemic among members of the three communities as people are not open to talk freely about the impact of the pandemic on their lives. Economically, the pandemic is impacting on a few families that lose their incomes and are unable to buy electric services. The final results indicate that the impact of the pandemic is arguably very low. The communities are shown not to be doing enough to fight the impact of the pandemic. Even if the three communities are economically poor, the pandemic does not have serious impact on their material possessions. There is no real economic impact as members of the three communities are poor and at the same time a few families are affected in terms of losing their incomes. The impact of the pandemic is only experienced on the social lives where it breeds prejudice and secrecy among the people.