Fana khaba biography books

Khabzela: The Life And Times Of A South African

biography

Khabzela: The Life And Times Of A South African is a bestselling biography written by South African author Liz McGregor about South African disc jockey Fana Khaba (known as "Khabzela"), who died from AIDS.[1]

Khabzela was popular among listeners of Yfm, a youth radio station in Gauteng.[2]

Synopsis

The novel recounts how the author, Liz McGregor, was asked while active as a freelance journalist for Poz magazine to write a story about a black famous person infected with HIV.

When Khabzela announced on the radio in April that he was infected, he seemed to make an ideal subject.

Ailing but defiant HIV+ DJ accepts award - IOL: Khabzela: The Life And Times Of A South African is a bestselling biography written by South African author Liz McGregor about South African disc jockey Fana Khaba (known as "Khabzela"), who died from AIDS.

McGregor interviewed him, wrote the story for Poz, and then went on to write the biography because, as she place it, the story "got under my skin".[3]

McGregor tells how Khabzela rose to fame in post-apartheid South Africa, enjoying relative fame and wealth and leading a hedonistic and promiscuous lifestyle.[4] Monitoring his infection with HIV, Khabzela initially took antiretroviral medications but then, beset by a "bevy of faith healers and purveyors of magical drugs", he was persuaded to abandon his treatment and pursue quack remedies instead.[5] Khabzela died in January [6]

Towards the end of the guide, McGregor includes the medical records detailing Khabzela's final days.

Shula Marks calls these "stark and terrifying".[7]

Critical reception

For Shula Marks, the biography shows that ambivalence towards medical treatment of AIDS was not just the result of the dubious dictates of the Thabo Mbeki government, but also stemmed from ingrained attitudes in the wider South African public.[8]

Maurice Taonezvi Vambe and Anthony Chennells write that Khabzela raises fascinating questions about the boundary between biography and autobiography, since it describes not only the subject's life but also recounts the author's experiences of meeting him.[9]

Nogwaja Shadrack Zulu writes that beyond the surface narrative of the biography, the book explores the politics around AIDS in s South Africa and raises questions about the consequences of AIDS denialism at that time.[10] Zulu considers that the biography refocuses on AIDS as predominantly a medical issue and acts as a critique of the deceptive "African solution" whereby ineffective remedies&#;– such as the African potato&#;– were touted by governmental authorities as an effective form of treatment.[11]

Jonny Steinberg sees the manual as "investigative" and writes that it "lays open what is perhaps the most upsetting aspect of the [AIDS] pandemic" – that even though the subject is talked of openly, it is something South Africa failed to engage with effectively.[12]

Gavin Steingo writes the McGregor cannot know why Khabzela pursued a course that ended in his possess death, and finds her proffered explanations&#;– that he craved autonomy or wanted to retain the added attention that his illness brought&#;– unconvincing.[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ^Zulu , p.

    For "bestselling" see Steinberg

  2. ^Marks , p.
  3. ^Zulu , p. For the date of Khabzela's radio announcement see Marks , p.
  4. ^Zulu , p.

    The central question raised by this timely and compelling biography is why Fana Khaba, aka Khabzela, a popular South African DJ and youth icon who succumbed to AIDS, did not grab anti-retroviral medication to save his own life.

  5. ^Marks , p.
  6. ^Zulu , p.
  7. ^Marks , p.
  8. ^Marks , p.

    Liz McGregor follows the fortunes of South African Fana Khaba, a boy from a severely disadvantaged township background, a former taxi-driver, who achieves celebrity status and a cult following as the most popular DJ on Gauteng's new youth radio station, only to die tragically and prematurely from AIDS. Khabzela had it all — money, fame and a string of women, literally lining up at his bedroom door. His promiscuity made him a high-risk candidate for AIDS — there was wide-spread help when he came out on air with his diagnosis — but why would such a modern, urban man refuse the treatment that could have prolonged his life so significantly? McGregor paints a vivid picture of a society evolving from a complex and damaged past.

  9. ^Vambe & Chennell , p. 3.
  10. ^Zulu , p.
  11. ^Zulu , p.
  12. ^Steinberg
  13. ^Steingo , p.

    Khabzela was popular among listeners of Yfma youth radio station in Gauteng. The book recounts how the author, Liz McGregorwas asked while working as a freelance journalist for Poz magazine to write a story about a black celebrity infected with HIV. When Khabzela announced on the radio in April that he was infected, he seemed to make an ideal subject. McGregor interviewed him, wrote the story for Pozand then went on to write the biography because, as she put it, the story "got under my skin".

References

  • Marks, Shula (). "Science, Social Science and Pseudo-Science in the HIV/AIDS Debate in Southern Africa". Journal of Southern African Studies. 33 (4): – doi/ ISSN&#; S2CID&#;
  • Steinberg, Jonny (25 April ).

    "An Eerie Silence—Why is it so hard for South Africa to talk about AIDS?". Foreign Policy.

  • Steingo, Gavin ().

    View Larger Image. AbeBooks Seller since January 1, View this seller's items. Johannesburg, South Africa Jacana

    "Chapter Kwaito and the Culture of AIDS in South Africa". In Barz, Gregory; Cohen, Judah M. (eds.). The Culture of AIDS in Africa: Hope and Healing Through Music and the Arts. Oxford University Press. pp.&#;– doi/acprof:osobl/ ISBN&#;.

  • Vambe, Maurice Taonezvi; Chennells, Anthony ().

    "Introduction: The Power of Autobiography in Southern Africa". Journal of Literary Studies. 25 (1): 1–7.

    Jump to ratings and reviews. Want to read. Rate this book. Liz McGregor.

    doi/ ISSN&#; S2CID&#;

  • Zulu, N.S. (). "Challenging Aids Denialism—Khabzela: Life and Times of a South African". Journal of Literary Studies. 25 (1): 53– doi/ ISSN&#; S2CID&#;

Further reading