Disclaimer: HIV/AIDS is a sensitive topic indeed and people who are infected have a right to keep their status private. As Safrolebs, we understand that and we only listed the following celebrities because their status was disclosed by them or close relative to publications from which we researched this information. So, we are not primarily disclosing any person status but it has been disclosed already. Our duty is to report based on information published by senior publications already.
News that you are HIV-positive is devastating, but to survive, you will have to fight back by taking medication. Unfortunately, there are well known people who failed to combat the illness and eventually succumbed to the disease. In this post we will talk about 8 Mzansi Celebs Who died of HIV & AIDS.
Number 1: Thabang Lebese
Professional soccer player Thabang Lebese died in 2012 of HIV/AIDS which saddened family and friends. According to his mother in 2013, Thabang would have been alive if he had opened up about his illness. “What killed Thabang was silence, “Had he spoken about his illness in time he would have got proper treatment and would still be alive. HIV is not a death sentence.”
Number 2: Lesego Motsepe
Another well known person to die of HIV/AIDS related illness is actress Lesego Motsepe. The actress disclosed her HIV status in 2011 on World AIDS Day, saying she has been living with the disease since 1998. Since the public announcement, Lesego used her star power to draw awareness about HIV and AIDS through her work as an AIDS ambassador. Though she had disclosed her status, it’s not clear if she took her medical course seriously because she died naturally from the disease according to paramedics.
Number 3: Fana Khaba
Top Johannesburg DJ Fana Khaba died in 2004 from HIV & AIDS and friends and family were devastated. Before his death, Fana displayed high knowledge about the infection of HIV and used his radio show to promote awareness about Aids and had access to the best medical care.
Unfortunately, he died of the illness, his fortune could not help him to survive the pandemic. According to his wife Sibongile, when Fana started to fall ill, he used to think he was bewitched until his wife encouraged him to test for HIV. When the results came, it was clear he was infected and it was too late.
Number 4: Tebogo Ndlovu
In 2008, Tebogo Ndlovu who was a musician, died of HIV related illness just few days after announcing his HIV positive status to the public. Before his death, he told Sunday World newspaper that at the height of his career he became sexually irresponsible, engaging in one-night stands, sometimes without a condom. Some fans were sympathetic to him while others blamed him for his own demise. At the time of death, Tebogo had released an album but could not promote it because of his poor health.
Number 5: Koyo Bala
Musician Koyo Bala died in 2016 from cancer at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. When he got diagnosed with cancer Bala had been positive with HIV and he disclosed his status in 2012. Though it’s said he died of anal cancer, it might have worsened since his immune system was under attack from HI-Virus. Bala became an HIV and AIDS activist after finding out that he was positive. He became very out spoken about it and he believed he would beat both AIDS and cancer. Unfortunately, his health failed him and he succumbed from these killer epidemics.
Number 6: Sizwe Motaung
Another well known soccer player to succumb to the wide spread disease is Sizwe Motaung. The late soccer player died in 2001 when HIV and AIDS was not well known how it actually spread or work. Motaung left two children from different mothers, and after his death, there was a feud between the baby mamas and Motaung’s family concerning his belongings.
Number 7: Jabu Sithole
Again in the 2000s, at the peak of Aids mortality rate in Africa, SABC top weather man was diagnosed with HIV and he died from it in 2006. When he found out he was positive, he was free to announce to the public that he is positive. He went on to encourage people publicly that they must use protection to avoid unnecessary death from Aids related diseases.
Number 8: Nkosi Johnson
He might not have been your typical celebrity, but Nkosi Johnson became one in late 1990s and early 2000s after he disclosed his HIV status as positive. He died in 2001 at the age of 12 after publicly spoke out and made awareness of HIV to South Africans. Unlike most people we spoke of in this video, Nkosi Johnson did not sexually got HIV but he was born like that. He delivered his first speech in 2000 which was televised, telling the world that he was positive and there was nothing to be ashamed of.
