Document is current

Article History

Accepted: 16 December 2020

First Online: 7 January 2021

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: Ethical clearance to conduct the study was granted by the Walter Sisulu University’s Ethics Committee, with protocol number 047/2013. Due to the study’s sensitive nature, permission was first sought from both community leaders and members through community tribal courts where community members meet on certain days to deliberate and settle community issues. Verbal consent was then granted by community members to recruit and interview adolescents who were eligible and willing to participate in the study. Verbal consent was then sought from adolescents who were 18 years or older. At the same time, consent was sought from parents of adolescents younger than 18 years at the tribal courts through community acclamation. Participation was voluntary, and the participant’s right to participate or not was respected. Anonymity, confidentiality and privacy of the individual participants were also adhered to by ensuring that community and participants’ names were not divulged in any research documents or recordings. Communities were given pseudonyms (Community 1 and Community 2) while participants were assigned codes to protect their identities. Also, interviews were conducted in secluded environments where only participants were present.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.