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AIDS activist
Nkosi Johnson who died of the disease early today |
Former South African president Mr Nelson Mandela has paid tribute to child AIDS activist Nkosi Johnson for his brave struggle against the disease, saying he was an example for the world to follow.
The frail 12-year-old boy died at home in a Johannesburg suburb early this morning. He had been in a semi-coma since January when the disease attacked his brain.
"It's a great pity that this young man has departed. He was exemplary in showing how one should handle a disaster of this nature," Mr Mandela told reporters at his home in Johannesburg. "He was very bold about it and he touched many hearts," he added.
Nkosi, who became a leading figure in the fight against the AIDS pandemic that has devastated huge swathes of Africa, had suffered brain damage earlier this year as AIDS spread further through his frail body.
He became the unofficial spokesman for AIDS-sufferers in a country where one in nine of the population live with the disease. Former President Nelson Mandela praised the boy as an icon of the struggle against the epidemic.
He will be most remembered for taking the podium at the opening of the world's biggest AIDS conference in Durban last year and calling on South African President Thabo Mbeki to allow the anti-AIDS drug AZT to be given to pregnant mothers.
South African government policy was thrown into disarray last year after Mandela's successor, President Thabo Mbeki, questioned the link between HIV and AIDS and the safety of AIDS drugs.