Homeless man finds himself alone on the harsh streets of the City of Gold

Behind the white paint and the red hearts drawn on the cheeks of a street hustler, dressed as a clown, is a troubled soul.

Fhatu (not his real name) discovered in 2016 he is HIV-positive and says those close to him have turned their backs on him as a result.

With no support from family and friends, the 30-year-old left Limpopo for the streets of Johannesburg to start afresh in a province where nobody would judge him based on his health or background, which includes a brush with the law.

Fhatu lives in a trench along a busy route. The little he has - a pair of worn trousers, a paint brush and a small piece of a broken mirror - are strategically placed in a plastic bag hidden behind a box stashed in the trench.

His source of survival is the generous motorists who give him cash or food after he's performed his dance moves.

"Sometimes I wish to die because I do not know what I am living for.

"I think of throwing myself at passing vehicles to end the difficulty I am going through," said an emotional Fhatu.

After diagnosis, Fhatu was put on medication but has since stopped taking his pills because there is no public health facility within walking distance of the intersection where he performs his tricks.

"If doctors were allowed to give me a pill or an injection that would immediately kill me, I would take it. I was careless with my life. I had unprotected sex thinking I would never get infected. I have accepted my condition but without family support some days are unbearable," he said.

Some do not understand why Fhatu doesn't get a job because HIV is not a disability and the young man's limbs are all operational.

The Grade 7 dropout also has a criminal record. In 2001 he was arrested for robbery and spent two years at a youth rehabilitation centre.

"I got part-time jobs in Venda but attitudes changed when employers found out about the criminal record. I do not wish to go back home. This intersection is my new home and motorists do not care about my past," he said.

On weekdays Fhatu makes a minimum of R70 a day and R120 a day on weekends. The money he makes goes into fast food and nyaope, a drug he says helps him forget about his problems, such as his unemployed widowed mother and eight siblings. His father, the breadwinner, was killed in 2000.

AnSA National Aids Council report said there was an urgent need to develop and implement a national stigma mitigation campaign. On the issue of jobs for rehabilitated offenders, Sonke Gender Justice said it was not only employers who needed to change their attitude towards offenders but communities, too: "We cannot condemn offenders for life."