Charlize reveals SA addiction
2007-11-11 21:28
Gavin Prins
Mtubatuba - Yes, she eats healthy food. Very healthy, because her age demands it - she is, after all, 32 years old.
But, when she passed a roadside cafe in Zululand on Wednesday afternoon, she couldn't resist temptation.
"Simba chips!" was the attraction, she admitted to Rapport the following day. And, not just any flavour: it had to be tomato!
The movie star said: "My favourite. In America, the chips are either too salty or too savoury."
Charlize has been in South Africa for two weeks, to open the health clinic that she and Oprah Winfrey have launched in KwaZulu-Natal.
For a while, she drops her American accent and switches to Afrikaans: "Ek is so bly om hier te wees. Ek woon nou wel in Amerika, maar Suid-Afrika is in my bloed, my bene, my alles ("I'm so pleased to be here. I may live in America, but South Africa's in my blood, my bones, my everything").
Presented with traditional wear
The clinic is based in the grounds of the Nhliziyo High School and it will be targeting sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/Aids.
Charlize listens to the speakers with rapt attention on stage.
The wind is chilly and she hugs her thin black shawl around her. A rose tattoo is visible on her right foot.
She gets up and greets the pupils: "Sanibonani. Ninjani? ("Greetings. Are you well?").
The children scream with joy and respond in a chorus "Yebo!" ("Yes!")
"I went overseas to follow my dreams," she tells them. "Now that I'm back and I see your faces, I know the true meaning of success."
"This health programme will work only if you're hungry for knowledge. In turn, you will take this to the community. By doing so, you will become teachers."
School principal Poppie Ntombela has an important announcement: Charlize is about to be presented with full Zulu traditional dress, complete with an isicholo (ethnic hat).
While she's being dressed, the women begin to dance. Charlize later joins them. Everyone laughs.
Her mother, Gerda, was in the audience, sitting next to Charlize's boyfriend, Irish actor Stuart Townsend.
Neither star wore the "betrothal" rings that recently caused a rumpus overseas.
Stuart, who'd been wearing a large pair of sunglasses, later joined in when a group of pupils started singing a Zulu folk song.
Afterwards, Charlize disappeared into a classroom, followed by Oprah's camera team and then she held a media conference.
Hopes she will have the courage
Would she ever make her status known if she tested positive for HIV?
"I would go public on the very day that I heard it," she said.
"I would do it to bring a change to people's lives and to show them that Aids is a reality, it can happen to anyone.
"I must add: this is how I feel right now. But, if it happens to me, I don't know if I would actually have the courage to go public about my status."
The session ends and she walks to a minibus where Stuart sits alone, waiting for her.
- Rapport