Johannesburg — Twelve year old Nkosi Johnson, who became the symbol of the battle against HIV/AIDS in South Africa, was given a hero's burial in Johannesburg on Saturday in a funeral attended by thousands of mourners, including the former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda.
Nkosi lost his own fight against AIDS when he died on 1 June, after slipping into a coma just before the New Year. His adoptive mother, Gail Johnson, who took in the young AIDS orphan when he was two, and his maternal grandmother, Ruth Khumalo, were united in their grief, and both wept as Nkosi's white and gold casket was lowered into the grave at Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg.
Earlier, there had been talk of tension and bad blood between the white foster mother and the Zulu grandmother, which was resolved by church intervention.
Nkosi grabbed worldwide attention, headlines and support last year when he stole the limelight during his opening address to the United Nations' 13th International AIDS' conference, held last year in the South African port city of Durban. He appealed to South Africans to accept people living with HIV/AIDS and to treat them with dignity and love. "We are all human beings. We are normal," he told the gathering.
Frail and emaciated, but with a winning smile, the young activist also questioned the SouthAfrican government's ambivalent stance on the link between HIV and AIDS. Nkosi urged Pretoria to provide drugs to AIDS' sufferers, especially HIV pregnant women, to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies.
At the time, the former president Nelson Mandela paid tribute to Nkosi, calling him a brave young fighter who had opened South Africa's eyes to the reality, suffering and impact of AIDS. The refrain was repeated in the funeral service on Saturday, by government spokesman, Bongani Khumalo, who hailed Nkosi as a 'young warrior'. The presiding bishop of the Methodist Church, Mvume Dandala, who officiated during the funeral, said Xolani Nkosi Johnson was an example that everyone should follow.
Bishop Dandala pleaded with South Africans to continue Nkosi's struggle and to be responsible for their actions. "Whatever else we do, please, sexuality is holy," he said. "Please, let's be responsible with our sexuality. I say, if you believe that condoms, and other such practices, will help, then please do it. Please be careful". Dandala said those who were opposed to condoms should abstain and should not be victimised for doing so.
In what many perceived as a rebuke to the South African government, the bishop almost shouted as he spoke, saying "I don't care what position you take in this debate on AIDS. I don't care what position you take on anti-retroviral drugs. Just show this country, show these children some compassion".
Bishop Dandala's soaring and passionate sermon was loudly applauded and followed by both mournful and joyful hymns, sung in Zulu and English by the choir and congregation, as the mourners - black and white -- swayed in time, danced and clapped their hands in the packed Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg.
Several broke down and cried as Nkosi's young friends, from the haven for HIV orphans and pregnant women set up by his foster mother, climbed onto the altar and sang him a farewell praise song they had specially composed.
His adoptive mother, Gail Johnson, said during the funeral service, "Nkosi taught me unconditional love and unconditional acceptance. I ask South Africans to do the same".
In a moving and emotional speech in church, his grandmother, Ruth Khumalo, thanked 'the white woman' (Johnson) for looking after Nkosi whose own biological mother died of AIDS in 1997. Speaking in Zulu, Khumalo said Nkosi and Johnson had 'journeyed together' and, although there had been obstacles, "today is the end of the journey."
Banners, emblazoned with the smiling face and bright eyes of Nkosi Johnson wearing a baseball cap, appealed to everyone in the church to "Let the love and courage of Xolani Nkosi Johnson fill your heart with determination to care for the infected and orphaned children of our land". Dozens of AIDS' activists and people living with HIV wore t-shirts with the slogan "My friend with AIDS is still my friend", a message often repeated by Nkosi.
Outside the church, members of the Treatment Action Campaign waved posters of Nkosi and others demanding that the South African government implement an "HIV/AIDS Treatment Plan Now", a move supported by Nkosi's mother and a feature of Nkosi's own speeches, delivered in a tiny and passionate voice.
The South African government representative summed up the mood and feelings of those who attended the funeral, when he said, "This young boy lived only a dozen years, but his impact, the effect of his life is profound. His impact is infinite. We should not talk about Nkosi as if Nkosi does not live any longer. Nkosi lives".
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Kenneth Kaunda, whose own son died of AIDS in 1986, when he was still president of Zambia, told allAfrica.com, "I can say, without any fear of contradiction, that that young gentleman (Nkosi) has contributed a great deal to the growth and unity of the human race. He has brought two colours together; they are now one family. That is not a small thing to achieve".
Kaunda praised Nkosi for speaking out openly about AIDS, "thereby helping to break the wall of silence over this disease". Kaunda, who runs an AIDS foundation in Zambia, said Nkosi had "smiled in the face of darkness." HIV/AIDS "is darkness itself," the former president said. "But he has smiled over that and just conquered by that act alone".
Kaunda pointed out that AIDS is a disease that is killing millions, especially on the continent of Africa, "and we must fight it". He said Nkosi Johnson was a fighter against AIDS "and I am here to pay my respects to the young man".
An estimated 11 percent of South Africans are infected with HIV/AIDS.
