/ 16 May 2003

Yfm DJ reveals HIV status

Popular Yfm and club DJ Fana ”Khabzela” Khaba announced on the Gauteng station’s breakfast show on Friday morning that he is HIV-positive.

In the recorded message Khabzela described how he had been feeling ill for some time and now is barely able to walk. He went for an HIV test and the result was positive.

”I am determined to get better. I am determined to be positive about my future. I have spoken to my family and they are supporting me. I have spoken to Y and the whole Y family is supporting me,” he said.

Khabzela will not be presenting his midday radio show until he has recuperated enough to return to work. A former taxi driver, he shot to fame in 1999 with his hugely popular The Jam Shack weekend show. He has also hosted the breakfast show. In 2000 The Future magazine named him as one of the 15 most influential media personalities in South Africa.

Yfm station manager Greg Maloka confirmed the station is rallying behind Khabzela. ”We see this as an opportunity to highlight the HIV crisis gripping our whole society and to say that we should not live in denial or be afraid to come out,” he said.

”Khabzela and Yfm will together take our communication to people and people living with HIV to another level.”