Where did Nkosi Johnson grow up and live?

📍Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng 1818, South Africa

1989 – 2001

“I was born Xolani Nkosi Johnson in 1989 in Johannesburg, South Africa, HIV-positive from birth. My mother Daphne was HIV-positive and died when I was twelve. I was raised by Gail Johnson, a white South African woman who fostered and then adopted me. In 2000, when I was eleven years old, I addressed the International AIDS Conference in Durban — one of the largest gatherings of scientists and policymakers in the world — and I told them that all children born HIV-positive deserved the same treatment and the same chances as any other child. I died four months later. I was twelve years old. The Soweto childhood, the foster mother's love, the conference speech — these were the brief geography of a life that changed how South Africa treated children with AIDS.”

👍 LovedGail's love, which gave me the security and the confidence to speak. The Soweto community. The knowledge that what I was saying needed to be said.

👎 DislikedThe illness that was present from my first breath. The loss of my mother. The twelve years that were not enough.

Map showing where Nkosi Johnson lived — Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng 1818, South Africa

🗺️ Approximate location today

Street view of Nkosi Johnson's home at Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng 1818, South Africa

📍 Street view today

Sources: Johnson, G. Nkosi's Story (2001), Macmillan South Africa; Nkosi Johnson AIDS Conference address (2000), Durban