Nkosi Johnson

Nkosi Johnson (4 Febraury 1989 - 1 June 2001) was a South African child victim of HIV/AIDS, who made a powerful impact on public perceptions of the pandemic and its effects before his death at the age of 12.
He was the longest surviving child born with the HIV/AIDS virus in South Africa.

Nkosi, whose birth name was Xolani Nkosi, was born to Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi in a township east of Johannesburg. He never knew his father.
Nkosi was HIV-positive from birth, and was legally adopted by Gail Johnson, a Johannesburg Public Relations practitioner, when his own mother, debilitated by the disease, was no longer able to care for him.

The young Nkosi Johnson first came to public attention in 1997, when a primary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville refused to accept him as a pupil because of his HIV-positive status. The incident caused a furor at the highest political level - South Africa's Constitution forbids discrimination on the grounds of medical status - and the school later reversed its decision.
Nkosi's birth mother died of HIV/AIDS in the same year that he started school. His own condition steadily worsened over the years, although, with the help of medication and treatment, he was able to lead a fairly active life at school and at home.

Nkosi was the keynote speaker at the 13th International AIDS conference in Durban, where he encouraged AIDS victims to be open about the disease and to seek equal treatment. "Care for us and accept us," he said at the conference. "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."
Nelson Mandela referred to Nkosi as an"icon of the struggle for life."



At the conference, he scolded South African president, Thabo Mbeki, on his government's inability to provide drugs, which resulted in the miffed president to leave during his speech. He later told the BBC:
"I feel like I am going to die quickly, like my mother did, very soon. But at least she got to be a grown-up. I hate having this disease."

Together with his foster mother Gail Johnson, Nkosi founded a refuge for HIV positive mothers and their children, Nkosi's Haven, in Johannesburg. In November 2005, Gail represented Nkosi when he posthumously received the International Children's Peace Prize from the hands of Mikhail Gorbachev. Nkosi's Haven received the US $100,000 prize money from the KidsRights Foundation.

Nkosi's mantra is something which every global citizen, not only South Africans, should follow:
"Do all you can / with what you have / in the time you have / in the place you are." - Nkosi Johnson

His death was a tragedy which left the world heartbroken and South Africa without a hero.
His death has left a void in the campaign against the HIV/AIDS disease.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 18 July 1918) was the 11th President of South Africa, the first to be elected in fully representative democratic elections. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress. He spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid.



Among opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a symbol of freedom and equality, while the apartheid government and nations sympathetic to it condemned him and the ANC as communists and terrorists.
Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, his switch to a policy of reconciliation and negotiation helped lead the transition to multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, he has been widely praised, even by former opponents.

Mandela has received more than 100 awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993. He is currently a celebrated elder statesman who continues to voice his opinion on topical issues. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.

Mandela has frequently credited Mahatma Gandhi for being a major source of inspiration in his life, both for the philosophy of non-violence and for facing adversity with dignity.

Since stepping down as president in 1999, Mr Mandela has become South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and securing his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup.
Mr Mandela - diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001 - has also been actively involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other African countries.

Over the last five years his public appearances have gradually become less frequent and mostly connected with the work of the Mandela Foundation, a charitable fund that he founded.

Since officially retiring five years ago (aged 85), Mandela has become an advocate for a variety of social and human rights organisations. He has expressed his support for the international Make Poverty History movement.
Mandela appeared in a televised advertisement for the 2006 Winter Olympics, and was quoted for the International Olympic Committee's Celebrate Humanity campaign:

For seventeen days, they are roommates.
For seventeen days, they are soulmates.
And for twenty-two seconds, they are competitors.
Seventeen days as equals. Twenty-two seconds as adversaries.
What a wonderful world that would be.
That's the hope I see in the Olympic Games.

The Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament, hosted by ,Gary Player, has raised over R20 million for children's charities since its inception in 2000. This annual special event has become South Africa's most successful charitable sports gathering and benefits both the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Gary Player Foundation equally for various children's causes around the world.

In July 2007, Nelson Mandela announced the formation of The Elders, a group of world leaders who will contribute their wisdom and independent leadership to address the world's toughest problems.

"This group can speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes on whatever actions need to be taken," Mandela commented. "Together we will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict, and inspire hope where there is despair."


One of Mandela's primary commitments has been to the fight against AIDS and in 2003, he lent his support to the 46664 AIDS fundraising campaign, named after his prison number.
Possibly his most noteworthy intervention of recent years came early in 2005, following the death of his only son, Makgatho.
In a country where taboos still surround talking about the Aids epidemic, Mr Mandela announced that his son had died of Aids, and urged South Africans talk about Aids "so to make it appear like a normal illness".