One of South Africa’s heroes in the great struggle for HIV treatment: a stalwart of the Treatment Action Campaign, presenter for Siyayinqoba Beat It! – and a truly lovely man.
Ulale ngoxolo Vuyani Jacobs
It is with great sadness that I learnt this morning that Vuyani Jacobs passed away last night after a long struggle with meningitis. Vuyani was a colleague, friend and comrade. From the early days at MSF and in Siyayinqoba Beat It and on many platforms he fought bravely for the rights of PLWHAs and for human rights broadly for many years. His political understanding and sense of the moment was invaluable in the struggle for PWA rights and access to treatment. There is so much one can say and I will write at greater length later. – Jack Lewis (director)
Vuyani tested positive for HIV early in the 1990s. Believing he didn’t have long to live, he quit his job and spent his days at home watching television. Channel hopping he came across a TV programme in which a beautiful African woman was speaking openly and without fear about her HIV positive status. That show was Beat It! and it changed Vuyani’s life. He got off the couch and went in search of information around HIV/AIDS. He became a member of the Treatment Action Campaign, started taking ARVs and eventually ended up co-presenting the 2002 season of Beat It! with Nombeko Mpongo and featuring as a regular member of the Siyayinqoba Beat It! support group until 2006.
It is with great sadness that I learnt this morning that Vuyani Jacobs passed away last night after a long struggle with meningitis. Vuyani was a colleague, friend and comrade. From the early days at MSF and in Siyayinqoba Beat It and on many platforms he fought bravely for the rights of PLWHAs and for human rights broadly for many years. His political understanding and sense of the moment was invaluable in the struggle for PWA rights and access to treatment. There is so much one can say and I will write at greater length later. – Jack Lewis (director)
Vuyani tested positive for HIV early in the 1990s. Believing he didn’t have long to live, he quit his job and spent his days at home watching television. Channel hopping he came across a TV programme in which a beautiful African woman was speaking openly and without fear about her HIV positive status. That show was Beat It! and it changed Vuyani’s life. He got off the couch and went in search of information around HIV/AIDS. He became a member of the Treatment Action Campaign, started taking ARVs and eventually ended up co-presenting the 2002 season of Beat It! with Nombeko Mpongo and featuring as a regular member of the Siyayinqoba Beat It! support group until 2006.
(From the Beat It! website)
I would like to thank all the people who send out condolences messages or called us during our time of mourning. And to all those who prayed for us I say thank you very much and Vuyani would have been happy with the sending off he received from his dearest friends and colleagues.
Article By: Luvo Jacobs