S Africa 'sterilised pregnant HIV patients without consent'

A South African inquiry into the forced sterilisation of dozens of HIV-positive pregnant women said on Monday that their rights had been breached and called for government action.

The investigation was launched in 2015, when two women's rights organisations approached South Africa's Gender Equality Commission (CGE) with 48 documented cases of coerced sterilisation.

CGE obtained sworn affidavits from the complainants on the alleged procedures.

"All the women who had lodged the complaint were black women who were mostly HIV positive," CGE head Keketso Maema said in the report released on Monday.

"Just before giving birth... they were coerced or forced to sign forms that they later learnt through various means were consent forms allegedly permitting the hospital to sterilise them."