June 2003

“Getting Your Heart Free”
Openly HIV-positive, a young South African serves as a model to workers

Mazwi Mngadi Photo credit: Eskom

Mazwi Mngadi, 24, first learned he was HIV-positive six years ago, a few months before he graduated from high school in Umlazi Township, KwaZulu Natal. Since then, he has faced one challenge after another, finding the courage to tell his family about his infection, dealing with stigmatization and fear, and protecting his health, in addition to tackling the difficult question everyone deals with at this age: What should I do with my life?

This dynamic young man now works on the Horizons intervention study at Eskom sites throughout KwaZulu Natal, serving as an HIV/AIDS workplace counselor, educator, and activities coordinator—and presenting a positive image as someone living openly with HIV/AIDS. He volunteers much of his free time to the Treatment Action Campaign and other South African HIV/AIDS activist organizations.

Horizons Report: How did you make the decision to live openly with HIV infection?

Mazwi Mngadi: At first, I was in shock when I learned I was HIV-positive, so my counselor recommended that I contact the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) for support. Meeting the NAPWA people was reassuring, because they were maintaining their health and didn’t “look” HIV-positive—and many of them were open about their infection. I had seen so many friends and others die; they didn’t try to get help because they were afraid to tell anyone what was wrong with them. I thought that maybe if I come out too, then I can help others. If you decide to tell someone, that’s getting your heart free, and you can face your infection and try to do something about it.

HR: What kinds of support and services do you give to Eskom employees?

MM: I lead educational sessions on HIV/AIDS with groups of workers and provide training for peer educators and for new trainers. I give out a lot of condoms and make sure that “condom cans” are kept full. I also offer counseling to individual workers and their families and partners, often in their homes. I’ve distributed a booklet about my own story at the dozens of Eskom plants and substations in KwaZulu Natal, so I’m well known within the work force. A lot of workers, even those who haven’t been tested, are afraid to speak to me in public for fear of being identified as HIV-positive, but I circulate my phone number, so instead they phone me to talk about their concerns and get advice. These calls are strong evidence to me that my presence at Eskom makes a big difference.

HR: How are you helping those workers who have found out that they are HIV-positive?

MM: Just a few months ago we created a confidential support group for workers with HIV/AIDS that meets outside of Eskom, after work hours. So far, there are about six workers who participate, and we share our personal stories and our problems, and I usually invite a speaker to talk about such topics as nutrition and treatment of opportunistic infections. We also discuss what’s happening around the country. One of the most common problems is being afraid to tell partners that they’re HIV-infected.

HR: It seems as if stigma and fear of stigma remain the biggest issues you must deal with.

MM: It’s the stigma attached to HIV infection that causes the denial that leads so many to refuse to deal with HIV—because admitting you’re infected means that you’ve already died, socially. This is why I make an example of myself, so that workers will see that you can still live your life. If you give people time to talk out first their disbelief and then their fears, even the most resistant people will eventually change their minds and take the risk of HIV seriously.

© 2003 The Population Council, Inc.

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This page updated
19 October 2007