A new book looks at the ife and time of DJ Khabzela, who preached safe sex, but lost his life to Aids, writes Sabata-Mpho Mokae
Khabzela: Life and Times of a South African
by Liz McGregor
(Jacana)
Born in dire poverty in the infamous Emdeni township of Soweto on September 12 1968, Fana ”Khabzela” Khaba pursued, against stacks of odds, his lifelong dream of being a DJ. It was not long after he had achieved this goal that he contracted HIV. In May 2003, Khabzela shocked Yfm listeners when he declared on radio that he was HIV-positive. On January 14 2004, Khabzela lost the fight against Aids-related illnesses and died.
The story of how Khabzela reached his goal of being a DJ remains inspirational beyond his brief life. He ran taxis and spun discs at school functions before joining Soweto Community Radio (now Jozi FM) and finally Yfm — currently the most popular youth station in Gauteng. But the road was not straight or smooth, and he had to deal with many setbacks on his route to the top.
Liz McGregor traces Khabzela’s youth, growing up in a violent society with only flamboyant gangsters and drunks as role models. He was brought up by a single parent, his mother, who was always angry at his absent father. Yet her anger fuelled his positive and confrontational messages on radio: as the Mail & Guardian has reported, he was known for his ”strong messages against crime and drugs, and his frank approach to issues around HIV and safe sex”. This was a gospel he preached but, it seems, never lived.
With his job as a Yfm DJ, money and popularity flowed; Khabzela lived a life of ”fantastic promiscuity”. He and his close friends shared girls: it was a sort of bonding mechanism between them. Girls would say, ”I don’t want to be loved by Khabzela. I just want him to fuck me.”
A large part of the book concerns the choice Khabzela made, after his HIV diagnosis, not to use anti-retrovirals. This, the author says, caused this ”talented and visionary young man to die when he could have lived”. Instead, Khabzela consulted a sangoma and others who believed herbs would cure him and anti-retrovirals would kill him. Khabzela was so desperate to get well that he allowed himself to be a guinea pig for alleged cures such as ”Amazing Grace” and ”African Solution”. Some of these ”experts” claimed to have direct contact with the minister of health.
This is a courageous work, and McGregor has left no stone unturned in her research. She got hospital records and interviewed people Khabzela’s family would rather she had not spoken to, such as Khabzela’s fiancée Sibongile.
In telling the story of Khabzela, McGregor is relating the stories of many young South Africans, people born in squalid conditions who rise to reach their dreams against huge odds. She takes us through a tale of sexism, poor judgement and loss of life, yet it is also the story of how one person reached his goal and, despite his failures, become an inspiration to many.
Sabata-mpho Mokae is a literary critic on Kaya FM