Living with HIV can be scary but not as scary as coming out to publicly accept the fact that you are living with it. To many, coming out publicly to disclose their positive status is a big NO, that’s quite alright because it takes a whole lot of bravery and courage to do that especially for celebrities who their life is always on the spotlight.

The fear of disclosure of ones’ HIV status is not far-fetched as we all know the implications that comes with that especially discrimination.
While most people openly share their diagnosis with family and friends, others prefer to tell just one or two people they trust. Both are fine – it’s totally up to you.

Most times, we often forget there are several ways of contracting the virus, such as the negligence of doctors who carry out transfusions without testing their blood.

In this article, we have compiled a list of some South African celebrities who have defied the odds and come out publicly to disclose their status on HIV (positive). Most of them say they do this to encourage others to come out and not die in silence.

Below is the list of some of these celebrities;

Thabang Sefatsa
Thabang Sefatsa is a former midfielder for Roses United. He was diagnosed with the virus sometime in 2013. He disclosed his HIV status while speaking at an event organized for AIDS awareness in Pretoria in 2016

Thabang went further to reveal that most of his colleagues also have the virus but are afraid to disclose this, and the management also would not want them to do so.

He noted with disappointment that people still bullied him through texts even after his retirement following his public declaration.

Musa ‘Queen’ Njoko
Queen Njoko is a motivational speaker, successful businesswoman, and a famous gospel artist. She has been fighting against AIDS for the last 22 years. Besides this, she is spreading awareness about it in the society. She was just 22 year old back when she was found HIV positive.

Justice Edwin Cameron
Although he contracted the virus in the 1980’s, Justice Edwin disclosed his status to the world in 1999.
His motivation was from the brutal murder of the AIDS activist Gugu Dlamini, following her disclosure on live radio that she was living with the virus.

Cameron has been active in fighting for gay rights and the rights of those infected with the deadly virus. Justice Cameron has contributed positively to the fight against stigmatization of those living with the disease.

Phindile Sithole-Spong

Phindile’s case was rather different. She was born with the virus but had no idea till she was 19 years old when she once fell ill and had a series of tests including the HIV test carried out on her.

Unfortunately, her parents died before the availability of HIV treatment, and she contracted the disease at the time as there were no definite ways to prevent mother to child infections.

Phindile struggled to come to terms with the disease while at the university and even experienced a relationship breakup after disclosing her condition to her boyfriend whom she had dated for around two months. The breakup left her devastated and asking herself when precisely is the best time to disclose one’s HIV status when dating someone, while the doctors told her that there is no said time and that the decision is solely up to the person.

Today, she owns a consulting company on HIV, and she is a member of AIDS consortium. She also participates in leadership forums for young Africans.



https://www.infomaza.com/hiv-positive-south-african-celebrities

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