Financial Gazette (Harare)
The Consultant
14 June 2001
opinion
Harare — They buried him just over a week ago. They gathered from near and far in their thousands to pay their last respects and render testimony befitting his status.
For a very long time now he had shown all the classic symptoms of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). He had fought on gallantly but, finally, it was all too much.
We had watched as the virus ravaged his body and finally took its toll. For quite some time all he had left was his voice. That voice was such a potently effective tool that it made the world sit up and take notice - never to be ignored again. He ranks high up there with other great campaigners for the good of humanity.
Real hero
Wait a minute, it is definitely whom you think I am talking about.
No, no, no, you can't be serious! I am talking about a real hero and not a man-made one.
I know it's the symptoms that fooled you. I am of course talking about the little boy, Nkosi Johnson who, by the time he died aged 12, was one of the best- known AIDS campaigners throughout the world.
Nkosi was born HIV-positive and orphaned as a baby. His HIV-positive biological mother abandoned Nkosi when he was just aged two. She had been stigmatised and ostracised by neighbours and others around her. She died in 1997.
White mother
A familiar story in much of Africa. However, although little Nkosi was never going to live for very long, destiny had a very critical role for him to play.
To a certain extent, it was somewhat remarkable that in a country still characterised by sharp racial divisions, Nkosi was fostered and adopted by a white mother, Gail Johnson.
Nkosi shot to world prominence at the international AIDS conference held in Durban last year when he took to the podium and, in a frail but very clear voice, criticised the South African government's stance on HIV and AIDS.
He called on people to overcome the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS and moved many to tears when he said: "You cannot get AIDS by hugging, you cannot get AIDS by kissing . . ."
Forgotten story
Nkosi knew better than most people did what it meant to be discriminated against due to the status of being HIV-positive. A now almost forgotten story is how Nkosi struggled and, after a lot of acrimony, succeeded in gaining admission to a local primary school that had fought hard to bar him because he was HIV- positive.
There are many people working very hard in the struggle against the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and I have had the privilege of meeting some of them in KwaZulu/ Natal.
Nevertheless, if any one individual has come to symbolise South Africa's struggle against HIV/AIDS, it is Nkosi Johnson.
Larger than life
Although Nkosi died but a mere child, his entire childhood became dedicated to the struggle against prejudice as he selflessly fought for the rights and greater hope of survival for the millions others with HIV/AIDS. To me he was larger than life. Maybe one day his full story will be told.
Many Zimbabweans probably will not have heard about Nkosi Johnson. It is a story that was very much ignored by the local media. I am always perplexed by attitudes towards HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. This is one country that is still very much enveloped in official denial.
In Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS is still considered a condition that affects only the peasants and other lowly classes. The rich, the famous and the notorious who are considered to be politically correct do not die of AIDS. They die mostly of malaria.
Classic symptoms
We are led to believe that in Zimbabwe there is a unique form of malaria that carries all the classic symptoms of acquired immunity deficiency syndrome, both the physical as well as the mental ones.
As your consultant, I reject this theory with the contempt that it deserves.
There is many a grandmother in the village who can tell the difference between AIDS and malaria. Lying about it serves no purpose except self-delusion.
Perhaps if the government thinks it can save face by doing so, it ought to pass a law that bans giving cause of death except in murder cases.
The lesson I draw from the life experiences of people like young Nkosi Johnson is that a person considered a real national icon does not require political leaders to confer him or her with the status of national hero. It is the sum total of how the whole nation spontaneously responds to you in life and after life.
Dreaded infection
Perhaps, the impact that Nkosi had on South Africa and the world at large is summed up in the words of Nelson Mandela who urged: "Let his life and example spur us on to be strong, resilient and vigorous in our fight against this dreaded infection. He has earned the right to be accorded all honour, dignity and respect."
To me, that is the stuff heroes are made of. Nkosi's one small step may yet prove to be a giant leap for the rest of South Africa and beyond. Rest in peace young man - you ran your mile in fine style.
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