JOHANNESBURG, May 28, 2009 (AFP) - A Swaziland MP who last week suggested that HIV positive people be branded on the buttocks Thursday distanced himself from the statement, saying he was misquoted by the media.
An apologetic Timothy Myeni told reporters in Johannesburg that he had not thought through his posing of "a mark" for HIV-positive Swazis last week at a workshop on ways of fighting the scourge in the small mountain kingdom.
"I want to disassociate myself from the statement that has been doing rounds in the media saying I suggested that people with HIV should be branded. That is not what I said," said Myeni, who also sings with a popular gospel group.
"I posed a question to the workshop facilitator saying maybe those who have been found with the virus must have a mark so that they can get quick medical attention."
Myeni added that he had immediately retracted his question after it was shot down by workshop participants.
The widely-reported comments sparked an uproar in Swaziland, one of the world's poorest nations with the highest HIV prevalence in the world under the rule of Africa's last absolute monarch King Mswati III.
"I am very sorry for the damage that has been caused by the statement, I never imagined that it will be interpreted this way," added Miyeni.
South African lobby group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said it will assist Swaziland in providing accurate HIV/AIDS information to stop the spread of ill-informed misconceptions.
"We were very dismayed by Myeni's remarks, as a result we are offering our services in that country to teach parliamentarians about the disease," said Bheki Khoza, the group's co-ordinator.
The group urged Myeni to go back to the people of Swaziland and apologise.
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