afrol.com, 12 January - While the country most affected by AIDS in the world was in denial, some brave persons have managed to give the disease a face. Most importantly 12-year-old Nkosi Johnson - whom the entire country now is watching dying slowly from AIDS. "We are normal human beings. We can walk. We can talk," the heartbreaker told South Africans only half a year ago. And they understood.

The first prominent South African to step forward and speak openly about being HIV positive was Judge Edwin Cameron last year. Talking with AIDS victims in South Africa, or Africa indeed, had until then been meeting a wall of shame and anonymity. Judge Edwin Cameron made the first step in changing that. He is, however, white, gay and "rich" - not making him a face the black majority of South Africans could identify themselves with. He realised it himself, stating that it was his secure position that made him dare "coming out".

Then came Nkosi. He brought shame on the country's leadership. He brought shame on society's denial. And he moved complete strangers to tears. Now, reduce to skin and bone and unconscious, he unites the country's prominents at his deathbed.

Nkosi is South Africa's longest living AIDS victim. He inherited the disease from his mother, and was not expected to live to see his third birthday. Both his parents died of AIDS, making him an orphan living with his new foster mother Gail Johnson - only known as Gail to most South Africans. Until the last months, Nkosi has managed to live relatively well with the disease, giving the impression of a vital, totally normal boy. Everybody could identify with him.

While President Mbeki shocked the world denying that HIV caused AIDS on last year's AIDS Conference in Durban, Nkosi became the person that mostly moved South Africans when he, as an 11-year-old boy, was allowed to speak at the same conference. "You can't get AIDS by hugging, kissing, holding hands," was his message to the conference, receiving great applause.

There is no doubt over who has had most credibility in the long run. Childish honesty won over denial.

Since the conference, Nkosi and his foster family have been in the focus of people's attention, with endless interviews and prominent visitors. President Mbeki's wife, Zinali, has paid a visit. As have Judge Edwin Cameron, several party leaders, actors, etc., etc. In front of running cameras, they have plaid with, touched, hugged and kissed the boy, demonstrating to everybody that human contact is possible with an AIDS victim.

The South African press is following the development of the boy and his disease, and foster mother Gail willingly lets the media in. She is aware of the enormous importance her foster son has to the AIDS awareness in South Africa, were he has become an icon of the millions already infected. Touching reports about Nkosi's situation are published in national and international media regularly.

On Wednesday, WOZA, one of South Africa's leading media, reported about journalist Marjolein Harvey visiting Nkosi. "Nkosi lies in a quiet room full of flowers. His foster mother Gail Johnson plays music for Nkosi all the time," she wrote. Just before her visit, the leader of South Africa's Communist party had placed a poster saying "We love you, Nkosi, a shining light in our struggle to combat HIV/AIDS" outside the house.

When he still could make statements on his own, Nkosi astonished reporters by his comprehensive understanding of his situation and role. "You can love people. You can touch them. You can be their friends. You can look after them. We are all the same," he told an impressed American ABC reporter in July, concluding, "I think it is time that people start realizing that we all - infected people - are all the same."

Experts, activists and scientists have had the same message for years, but the denial from the government and society at large has been massive. "The government has really been challenged by the fact that a 12-year-old has stood up and said things that they haven't really liked to hear sometimes," South African AIDS specialist Dr James McIntyre, told the BBC. Now, it seems that South Africa is awakening, and as in so many other countries, it took a face to face realities.

Nkosi lost consciousness last week, and due to the expected mass participation, his funeral is already being planned. All South Africa will watch him die. Sadness - mixed with bad consciousness for being part of a society that lets thousands of Nkosis get infected with HIV and lets them die in such a way. Shame for letting him die for the sins of all of us.

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