When she was diagnosed as being HIV positive in 2001, Vuyiseka Dubula-Majola (39) thought she'd be dead within a few months. Today – almost 17 years later – she is the new director of Stellenbosch University's Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management, a PhD candidate, a wife and the mother of two HIV negative children.

She has also been included in the book A to Z of Amazing South African women, a publication that honours the contribution of women to South Africa's past, present and future. Other names in this book include Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Fatima Meer, Caster Semenya, Natalie du Toit, Mrs Ples and Thuli Madonsela.

In the book they refer to her as a “heroine for our times" – someone who has beaten all the odds and is still working actively to improve the situation.

“We can't become complacent. Even one infection is too many," she says.

Dubula-Majola's journey as an activist began in a Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) centre in Khayelitsha.

“I started off in the lower levels of TAC as a volunteer. From 2002 to 2006 I served as the Treatment Literacy coordinator for the Western Cape and in 2007 I was the National Coordinator for People living with HIV/AIDS."

Moving through the ranks she eventually became the general secretary of TAC, a role that she fulfilled for eight years. Since the late 1990s, TAC's campaigns were instrumental in securing a universal government-provided AIDS treatment programme, which has since become the world's largest.

“When I was diagnosed, I thought there was no hope for me. Today, thanks to access to treatment, the mortality rate as a result of HIV/AIDS as well as mother-to-child transmissions have dropped significantly and life expectancy has increased.

“But we can't celebrate yet, because despite all the progress we've made, people are still becoming infected with HIV."

Dubula-Majola believes the focus should now move to prevention and behavioural interventions. Gender inequality, poverty and other social and structural issues still leave many people, especially young women, at risk.

The acknowledgement she received in the book A to Z of Amazing SA Women is just one feather in her cap. She has, among others, also received a Global Leadership Award through Acacia Global for her work in supporting the development and education of women living with HIV/AIDS in the Western Cape (2015), as well as a Leadership Award from the Shared interest Group in New York as one of the youngest women leading the AIDS movement in South Africa (2011).

“I feel humbled about my inclusion in this book," she says. “There are many other women who also deserve to be mentioned. We all aspire to contribute to a just and equal society."

Dubula-Majola is a Stellenbosch University (SU) alumna, having completed two of her postgraduate qualifications – a Postgraduate Diploma and an MPhil in HIV/AIDS Management – through the Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management. She has also been a lecturer at the Centre for two years.

The Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management was established in January 2003 by the outgoing director, Prof Jan du Toit, who is retiring at the end of the year after joining SU's Department of Industrial Psychology in 1972.

The Centre focuses on education, research and community service related to HIV and AIDS management in the workplace.

Dubula-Majola is looking forward to her new role as director. “I welcome challenges. That is how we grow."

• Photo by Junior Sthembele