South Africans may be finally getting it right. If the youth are to be educated about the dangers of unsafe sex resulting in teenage pregnancies, we cannot ask people who practice unsafe sex with teenagers to be ambassadors in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Members of the African Musicians Against HIV-AIDS (AMAHA) have asked the “Godfather of Kwaito”, Mdu Masilela, to excuse himself from the project because they believe he is unsuitable to speak about safe sex and teenage pregnancy.

A member of AMAHA, who wished to remain anonymous, was quoted by the Sunday World, giving the reasons for the call for Masilela’s resignation.

“Mdu has never been faithful to his wife. He had an extra-marital affair with a teenager in which he indulged in unprotected sex and impregnated her. He is the wrong person to speak about those things.”

What a statement of condemnation, yet how sadly pertinent. When former deputy president, Jacob Zuma, admitted to knowingly sleeping with an HIV-positive woman without using a condom during his rape trial, the nation was outraged. He was after all the chairperson of the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) and leader of the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) and we could not have him saying one thing and doing another. The youth and the uninformed, who believed him to be a good leader, just might follow his example. Zuma’s controversial statements led to his removal from Sanac and MRM, a move I wholly endorse.
 
Now Masilela is being asked by his contemporaries to step aside and let the HIV and AIDS message be delivered by those who have not publicly admitted to placing themselves in danger of contracting the disease. Admittedly people like Masilela and Zuma are just human and therefore make mistakes - mistakes they hopefully learn from. But should they be allowed to stand up as role models for the youth of today?

They had so much potential as role models. As a youth myself I know it sometimes annoys me when a role model forced upon me is a lily-white know-it-all (reminiscent of the teacher’s pet who always got the answers right). I’d prefer them to have some bruises that reflect their learning experiences. Maybe Masilela and Zuma now realise how lucky they were to get off unscathed (if indeed they did) and they want to share their blessings with others.

But perhaps in the fight against HIV and AIDS we need role models who have always kept their hands to themselves and never publicly shamed themselves. Role models that in the public’s eye as well as in their private lives are really upstanding citizens.

For instance, how is the youth supposed to trust what Masilela is saying when during awareness meetings he may wink at some young girl and slip her a back stage pass? How is that teenager to resist? After all “Mdu is a member of an AIDS-awareness group, there is no danger!”

Ukhozi FM interviewed AMAHA chair, Doc Shebeleza, who confirmed that some musicians had expressed concern on Masilela’s suitability as a member of AMAHA but said that Masilela would be instrumental in educating families about the dangers of extra-marital affairs.

South African musicians have been sluggish in their contribution to the fight against HIV and AIDS, opting for the most part only to appear at concerts organised by other orgnisations. AMAHA is an inspirational organisation and hopefully the cloud shrouding it at the moment will lift, so that it, too, can help promote the fight against HIV and AIDS into the future. ­–Akhona Cira

This entry was posted on Friday, February 23rd, 2007 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.