SAfrica: Actress Charlize Theron meets Jacob Zuma, pledges support in fight against AIDS

July 29, 2013 at 5:25PM
South African-born Hollywood actress Charlize Theron reacts during her joint media conference with South African President Jacob Zuma, unseen, after their meeting at his Union Building office in Pretoria, South Africa, Monday, 29 July 2013. They discussed the fight against HIV and Aids, and "how collaboration can assist mitigate the pandemic's negative impact on young girls".
South African-born Hollywood actress Charlize Theron reacts during her joint media conference with South African President Jacob Zuma, unseen, after their meeting at his Union Building office in Pretoria, South Africa, Monday, 29 July 2013. (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

JOHANNESBURG — Actress Charlize Theron has pledged her support in the campaign against AIDS during a meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma.

Theron, an ambassador for the United Nations program on AIDS, met Zuma in Pretoria on Monday to discuss the fight against AIDS in South Africa and across the continent.

The South Africa-born actress says the world has the ability to usher in "an AIDS-free generation." She says that the goal can become a reality with strong leadership like that displayed by Zuma.

According to UNAIDS, South Africa has reduced the number of new HIV infections by 12 percent in the last two years. Last year, more than 8 million HIV tests were done. However, South Africa wants citizens to get tested at least once a year.

about the writer

about the writer

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
card image
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS/The Minnesota Star Tribune

The "winners" have all been Turkeys, no matter the honor's name.

In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece