December 2, 2005
By Tammy O'Reilly
WORLD Aids Day was commemorated across the globe on 1 December, and while it is generally a day tinged with sadness, Khunju Nlemeza turned it into a celebration.
Nlemeza has been HIV-positive for a decade, has a nine-year-old daughter who is HIV-negative and, thanks to good nutrition, a cocktail of drugs and some spiritual guidance, a viral load that is almost undetectable.
The pint-sized woman is also very vocal about her status and seizes every opportunity to spread awareness about the disease.
"I am HIV-positive," she bellows to the crowd of City council employees gathered at the Braamfontein Recreation Centre to mark the day. "I have had the disease for the past 10 years but this Aids Day, I am not sad. I am celebrating how far I have come with this disease."
Naturally, it hasn't been all roses for Nlemeza, who has had to deal with the stigma that comes with having the virus, suicidal thoughts and a series of illnesses that seemed to attack her body all at once.
As a council employee though, her road to wellness is made easier through the City's Workplace Wellness HIV and Aids policy, a holistic approach to combating HIV and Aids in the workplace through providing moral, financial and medical support to those who are infected.
The first step of the three-phase policy is free testing, treatment of opportunistic infections and the provision of anti-retroviral therapy where necessary. Just as it has done for Nelemza, the City provides on-site counselling and support to partners and immediate family members.
Employees with HIV and Aids also have access to employee benefits such as medical aid and pension.
Speaking at the gathering, Thuli van der Wath, the director of occupational health and safety, said the City was committed to providing support to employees infected with the virus as well as increasing awareness of HIV and Aids in the workplace.
"The City of Johannesburg is really pulling out all the stops to bring this scourge to its knees and we are doing lots to uplift every employee who is infected with or affected by HIV/Aids.
"We are very proud to say that we have had extremely ill people with a CD4 count of less than 20 come to us, and through the employee wellness programme some of them have returned to work in better health than some HIV-negative people I know."
The City council will also carry out free voluntary testing and counselling for all employees until 15 December and will continue to hand out free male and female condoms to staff.
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