HIV-positive people find each other on dating site

Positive Connection, which was founded by Ben Sassman of Gauteng, has more 267 members. Sassman, 46, a married father of three boys, is HIV-negative. He re-registered the site from the original members, who started it in 2003.

"I had 39,000 members when the site crashed. Now they are all re-registering one by one," says Sassman.

Sassman runs a consulting business for skills and HIV/Aids training. While on holiday in Cape Town, he bumped into an old high school friend who told him he was HIV-positive.

"My friend explained how dating was a problem as he was forced to disclose his status to women during his date," he said. "This friend, who was the inspiration behind the website, died more than two years ago," Sassman added.

He said site members sometimes did not even upload pictures of themselves because they are afraid to disclose their status or let others identify them and be stigmatised.

Sassman says the site has become more than a dating platform for people living with HIV and Aids. Vusi, 40 from Soweto, (he did not give his last name) agrees and says he met women on the site but also built friendships and business partnerships with other people.

Sassman wants to expand his site, Positive Connection, to the rest of the Africa.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge