SA COMMEMORATES AIDS DAY IN FACE OF BLEAK STATISTICS.

As South Africa joined the international community in commemorating annual World Aids Day on Saturday, politicians, community leaders and ordinary citizens around the country paused, and in the face of bleak statistics, remembered the dead by lighting symbolic candles of hope. A number of activities organised by the government, political parties and numerous others were the order of the day at venues around the country. In Cape Town, former President Nelson Mandela accused sections of the media of trying to drive a wedge between him and President Thabo Mbeki. Speaking at the opening of the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, Mandela rejected reports that he had attacked President Thabo Mbeki's controversial stance on HIV/Aids. He said journalists had misinterpreted remarks he made at a World Aids Day function on the Cape Flats earlier in the day, and he had been shocked by a subsequent phone call from Mbeki's office about the reports. "I said countries that have succeeded in bringing down the levels of Aids are those where the president of the country takes the lead," he said. "After praising President Museveni and President Wade, [of Uganda and Senegal] I said our president and deputy president are doing the same thing, but the difficulty with the president is that he is busy with Africa and countries beyond. "As a result he can not concentrate on the problems of this country because he has got these duties as well, which are absolutely necessary." Nothing posed more of a threat to the country than HIV/Aids, Mandela said. He also urged every South African to join the battle against the disease. Deputy President Jacob Zuma led the nation in lighting a candle flame in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, where the country's main World Aids Day commemoration event took place. In his message to the nation, Zuma asked people to think of those living with the burden of HIV/Aids, of Aids orphans who may be HIV-positive themselves and of health workers who gave unselfishly to help the afflicted. He said government felt that it had made progress in dealing with the disease. "Given the lack of a cure for now, our biggest weapon is prevention," he said, adding that recent government surveys had shown increased awareness levels of 90 percent. He also said the country neded to pull together and work with the youth in order to "produce an Aids free generation". This years commemorative events -- themed "I Care Enough To Act, Do You?" -- was disseminated mainly by the youth through speeches, music and literature throughout the country. Apart from the Hammanskraal event, Gauteng province alone had 15 events. In North West Province, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang addressed a crowd in the Moretele district about the positive impact of the anti-Aids campaign. In KwaZulu-Natal, the province worst hit by the scourge, premier Lionel Mtshali said the war against HIV/Aids would not be won merely by distributing condoms, but rather by communities ...