The new man in South Africa is not a celebrity. He is not on TV, on billboards or in magazines. The new man in South Africa is the guy next door.

 

He is the guy who moved out of his parents’ house to take care of orphaned children; the guy who sacrifices parties to teach orphaned children about responsible living.

 

He is Wiseman Majozini, from Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He is a Brother for Life.

 

Brothers for Life is a man-led initiative that aims to mobilise South African men to act on HIV. Through community-selected ambassadors, the campaign seeks to change perceptions that men are abusers, alcoholics and absent fathers.

 

The initiative calls on all men in South Africa to do the right thing – to stand up for responsible living, parenting and behaviour, and to live positively.

 

Twenty-nine-year-old Majozini was selected by members of his community to be part of the Brothers for Life campaign. He says Brothers for Life representatives visited his village and told him about the cause, which appealed to him.

 

“I am a person who likes to see change happen in other people’s lives,” says Majozini. “Through Brothers for Life I am bringing that change.”

 

Majozini believes Brothers for Life has given him life skills that set him apart from men in his village. “Here men abuse and rape women, kill them in the middle of the night,” he says. “Being a Brother for Life makes me different from those men. I believe that a man should take care of his family and care for his children’s needs.”

 

As a result of his involvement in Brothers for Life, Majozini now manages an orphanage in the town of Bergville – an experience he says he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

 

“I take care of children between the ages of 5 and 13 years. I teach them about the ups and downs of life and encourage them to do more with their lives,” he says.

 

Though he has had his fair share of troubles in life, Majozini describes himself as someone who doesn’t get angry easily. “I love people and I love to laugh,” he says.

 

Majozini comes from a family of six. His father stopped working when Majozini was still in primary school and he knew that, as the first-born child, he had to step into his father’s shoes to help make ends meet.

 

He started doing odd jobs during weekends so he could support his family, eventually deciding to drop out of school to get a proper job.

 

Majozini landed a waitering job at a restaurant in a game lodge out of town. Though the job meant a lot to him and his family – they were going to have bread on their table – it also meant putting his own dreams on hold while he helped his four sisters and brothers through school.

 

Through difficult times, Majozini has drawn inspiration from his role model, the late reggae icon Lucky Dube. “He opened his own businesses here in KwaZulu-Natal,” he says. “He built a house for his family and that taught us to stand up for ourselves.”

 

Being chosen as a Brother for Life has also inspired a new-found confidence in him.

 

“I am a very quiet person by nature but through this campaign I am able to talk to people in my community and I have become stronger and wiser,” says Majozini.

 

“I would like Brothers for Life to continue doing the good work that it is doing in this country and let’s recruit more men to do the right thing.”