If an HIV test was done without consent, your rights have been abused. You can complain to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPSCSA). You can also bring a civil claim for invasion of privacy, and a criminal charge of assault against the health care worker or the person they were acting on behalf of.

Case Study: Hoffman v South African Airways(SAA)

Mr Hoffman applied for a job as a cabin attendant with South African Airways (SAA) and was asked by SAA to take an HIV test. He tested HIV-positive. SAA refused to give Mr Hoffman the job because, they said, part of his job involved travelling to different countries and he would need to have a yellow fever vaccination. It is not advisable for someone with HIV to have these vaccinations. SAA said that this was an inherent requirement of the job in the airline and therefore they couldn’t employ him.

The Constitutional Court was asked to decide if SAA had gone against Hoffman’s rights to equality, dignity and fair labourpractices.The court decided that:

• SAA had discriminated against Hoffman
• the discrimination was unfair and infringed his dignity

Being HIV negative was not an inherent requirement of the job of being a cabin attendant; they should have taken greater steps to investigate how Hoffman’s immune system could have dealt with traveling and the possibility of getting a strange disease.