“My Late Celebrity Ex Boyfriend Infected Me With HIV But I Am Not Letting HIV Hold Me Back”. How a 27 Year Old Lady Is Living Positively With HIV

Lebogang Brenda Motsumi is an aspiring Social Entrepreneur and social worker who has become and international sensation for her brave stand on HIV.

She contracted the virus at 17 years after dating a famous Kwaito singer who wasted away before her very own eyes. The said Kwaito star knew he was HIV positive and deliberately infected Brenda and others as he didn’t want to die alone.

She describes having unprotected sex with this guy as ‘the worst mistake of her life’ , but she is not letting HIV Bring her down.

“ I am NOT HIV, I am LIVING with HIV. I am not the virus, the virus lives in me.I am not defined by HIV, but I define HIV.” Is perhaps one of Lebogang’s most famous quote a quote that has been shared widely on social media.

Though revealing your HIV status is not something many people do, Lebogang reckoned that it was important to have this kind of conversation.

Speaking to People’s Magazine in South Africa, Lebogang said “ The reason I decided to disclose my HIV status was because I wanted to help and change a lot of lives, especially those of young people. I feel that the only motivational HIV speakers are much older and we young people cannot relate to their stories nor can we listen to their advice on how to live a positive and healthy life because of the age difference. My target market is young people infected and affected with HIV, and those who are still uneducated when it comes to the virus.

Additionally, I’m working on opening a foundation with five other young people infected and affected with the virus. This foundation will strictly be working with the youth. The vision is “WE ARE THE YOUTH FOR THE YOUTH”. Our main focus is HIV/AIDS, but we also look at all issues that are affecting the youth, for example, substance abuse, teen pregnancy and rape. Fighting the stigma and discrimination towards infected youth is our mission. We also have workshops running at school where we train some of the learners to be peer educators. The aim is to leave them with something they can also work with and pass on to others.”