In what is being labelled as a major scoop for HIV/Aids activism, top South African playwright Gibson Kente has proclaimed himself HIV-positive, national newspapers reported on Friday.
”My HIV status is going to let me live longer than I would have lived normally because I’ve got a challenge; because I know that I have a duty to the people out there to inspire them that ‘Folks, the fight is on!” Kente said when he disclosed his HIV status at a function in Newtown, Johannesburg on Thursday night.
His stance was praised by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), whose leader Zackie Achmat, himself HIV-positive, said: ”I think it is a very brave thing to do. It is also the right thing to do. We salute his courage.”
Former president Nelson Mandela, through his personal assistant Zelda le Grange, also had words of praise for Kente’s bravery in a country where one of the first people to admit their HIV-positive status, Gugu Dlamini, was stoned to death.
”People should not feel that they will be discriminated against when they reveal their status. He will enjoy the love and embrace of his community, family and friends. We will definitely need people like Gibson to come out and speak about the pandemic,”
Mandela said.
It is believed that almost five-million South Africans are HIV-positive, though not many know their status. Being HIV-positive still carries a huge stimga in many communities.
Kente joins the Supreme Court of Appeal’s Judge Edwin Cameron and the late singer Anneline Malebo, of Joy, in disclosing his status. Other public figures like President Thabo Mbeki’s representative Parks Mankahlana, soccer player Siawe Motaung and African National Congress MP Peter Mokaba have all been rumoured to have died of
Aids-related illnesses.
Kente said at the function that he had resolved to write a play about his status. ”I plan to travel with the production around the country and inspire people who are either affected or infected by the disease. I want you to trust me. Trust me to be strong because I want to stand out as a paragon of strength.”
Kente’s plays include, ”Manana, The Jazz Prophet”, ”How Long”, ”Sikhalo” and ”Lifa”. – Sapa