Friday, 29 September, 2000, 14:10 GMT 15:10 UK
              Aids: Mandela takes on
              Mbeki

              President Mandela has spoken out on Aids
              Former South African president Nelson Mandela
              appears to have launched an attack on his
              successor's controversial Aids policy.

              In a newspaper interview published on Friday,
              Mr Mandela repudiates the South African
              government's statements challenging the link
              between HIV and Aids.

              Current president Thabo Mbeki says he will not
              accept that the virus causes the illness unless
              it is proved again by a panel of experts he has
              set up.

              Mr Mandela told the
              interviewer that he
              would respect "the
              dominant opinion" -
              that is that HIV causes
              Aids, unless real proof
              emerges that it does
              not.

              And he warned Mbeki:
              "I would like to be very
              careful because people
              in our positions, when
              you take a stand, you
              might find that established principles are
              undermined, sometimes without scientific
              backing."

              The South African government's stance on
              Aids has proved embarrassing in recent
              months, particularly when Durban hosted a
              world conference on Aids earlier this year.

              Fastest spread

              More than 10% of South Africans - about 4.2m
              people - carry the virus, and some experts say
              the disease is spreading faster there than
              anywhere else on earth.

              Public health experts say that denying the link
              between the virus and the illness may dilute
              the message to HIV-positive people that they
              should take precautions to avoid spreading the
              virus through sexual intercourse.

              Antiretroviral drugs are not widely available,
              and would represent a major expenditure on an
              already desperately stretched health budget.

              However, many campaigners, while recognising
              this, want Mr Mbeki to at least spend some
              money giving the drugs to HIV-positive
              pregnant women, as this would greatly reduce
              the chances of passing the virus to their
              children.

              However, only one South African minister from
              the ruling African National Congress party,
              Membathisi Mdladlana, has strayed from the
              government line by stating publicly that HIV
              causes Aids.

              Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told
              a news conference last week that she had
              never denied a link, but refused to state that
              HIV caused Aids.

              In parliament last week, Mr Mbeki said that he
              believed that a virus could never cause a
              syndrome.

              Internationally, scientists say that the link
              between the virus and Aids is well-established
              by robust research
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