Table 1 Participant summary
Name (Pseudo-nym) | Age | Racial or ethnic group | Language | Self-identity | Health status | Employment | Shelter & Housing type | Shared household income | Household members (incl. Internal and external family, friends or strangers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Curella | 28 | Coloured | Afrikaans | “femgay” | HIV negative & no other physical health concern. | Informal work in admin and retail | Shares the lounge with her step-sister in a shared one-bedroom brick house. | R6000 (US$400) per month | Lives with her mother, step-father and step-sister. Her extended family and grandfather (consented) live across the street. |
Georgina | 27 | Coloured | Afrikaans | “moffie” or “gay” | HIV negative & no other physical health concern. | Neighbour-hood watch | Has her own room in a shared two bedroom brick house. | R9000 (US$600) per month | Lives with her mother (consented), father and other extended family members. |
Stacey | 28 | Coloured | Afrikaans | “femgay” | Living with HIV, started and stopped ART more than once. | Informal hairstylist | Moves in between formal and informal houses of extended family, usually sharing a room or staying in an informal extended room. | R3400 (US$227) per month | Internal family (mother and brother) moved away, therefore she moves between houses of extended family members (niece or aunt) or friends. |
Sizwe | 21 | Black | Xhosa | “MSM” | HIV negative & no other physical health concerns | Informal work in retail | Has her own room in a shared three bedroom brick house. | R2500 (US$167) per month | Lives with her mother (consented), sister and brother. |
Steven | 28 | Coloured | Afrikaans | “gay” or “femgay” | Living with HIV. Starts and stops ART regularly. Previous TB diagnosis. Went for drug rehabilitation. | Formal retail job | Has her room in a shared informal wooden house in aunt’s backyard. | R7350 (US$490) per month | Lives with her sister, mother (consented) and father (consented). Her aunt (consented) lives in the main house. |
Owen | 25 | Coloured | Afrikaans | “transgender woman” | Both her and her sister are living with HIV and both are on consistent ART. | Unemployed, rents out house | Own bedroom in a shared three bedroom brick house. | R1500 (US$100) per month | Lives with her sister in a house where a lot of friends of them come to have casual sex during the day. Sometimes they rent the house out and stay with friends. |
Patricia | 32 | Coloured | Afrikaans | “gay” | HIV negative & casual drug user. | Sex work | Moves between informal houses. Shared an informal garage space previously. Has been homeless in the past. | R3000 (US$200) per month | Stays currently on an open piece of land in a self-erected informal house of her own, with her friend (consented) and friend’s husband (consented) as neighbours. |
Girlie | 27 | Coloured | Afrikaans | unable/ unwilling to categorise | Living with HIV. Casual drug user which is why clinic staff doesn’t want her to start ART. | Sex work & street hawking | Shares a room with her brother in a shared two bedroom brick house. Sometimes sleeps outside the house when boyfriend visits. | Information not available | Stays with brother (consented) and mother. Her step-sister (consented, but stopped participation) and extended family are next door neighbours. |