Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Eswatini

Swazi leader discloses HIV status

    JOHANNESBURG

    The Swaziland AIDS Support Organisation (SASO) on Monday praised Chief Madelezi Masilela for disclosing his HIV status.

    The chief told a community meeting at the weekend he had been living with HIV for four years.

    As representatives of King Mswati III, the county's 350 chiefs are treated with respect by their subjects. Masilela is the first known chief to publicly acknowledge his HIV-positive status.

    "We have been waiting a long time for a top traditional leader to step forward as an example. People pay attention when a chief speaks," SASO president, Hannie Dlamini, told the UN news service PlusNews.

    Dlamini, who in 1994 became the first Swazi to publicly declare he was HIV-positive, said Masilela had shown true leadership.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join