Nkosi Johnson was a South African child activist, born with HIV/AIDS who greatly influenced public perceptions of the virus and its affects.
Born Xolani Nkosi on 4th February,1989 in Johannesburg to a mother bed-ridden by the HIV/AIDS virus and too sick to care for him, Nkosi was given up for adoption to Gail Johnson, a public relations officer at the AIDS Care Center in Johannesburg with the blessings of his mother.
Nkosi Johnson first came to public attention at the age of 8 when a primary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville refused to accept him as a pupil because of his HIV-positive status.
This incident caused huge political issues for South Africa that forced changes to the law there. New anti-discrimination policies were put in place which stopped children being banned from schools based on their health and the school later reversed its decision
He became the human face of AIDS in South Africa and an iconic figure in the campaign to raise money and public awareness about the human immunodeficiency virus and was the keynote speaker at the 13th International AIDS Conference, where he encouraged people with HIV/AIDS to be open about their condition and to seek equal treatment. Nkosi finished his speech with the words:
\”Care for us and accept us – we are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else – don\’t be afraid of us – we are all the same!\”
Nkosi Johnson died in 2001, at the age of 12 and was posthumously presented the International Children’s Peace Prize in November 2005 which was accepted by Gail Johnson, his foster mother with whom he founded a refuge for HIV positive mothers and their children – Nkosi\’s Haven, in Johannesburg.
The late Nelson Mandela referred to him as an “icon of the struggle for life”.
