He confessed that South Africa had for too many years closed its eyes to the dangers and allowed the virus to spread at one of the fastest rates in the world, claiming a daily infection rate of 1,500 to reach a total of over three million. You have the right to live your life the way you want to. But I appeal to the young people, who represent our country's future, to abstain from sex for as long as possible. If you decide to engage in sex, use a condom. In the same way, I appeal to both men and women to be faithful to each other, but otherwise to use condoms.
Nothing can prevent infection except our own behaviour.
We shall work together to support medical institutions to search for a vaccine and a cure. We shall mobilise all possible resources to spread the message of prevention, to offer support to those infected and affected, to destigmatise HIV and AIDS and to continue our search for a medical solution. This shows a Mbeki clearly under the influence of civil servants briefed by orthodox scientists. He says he should have known about it, but he felt less guilty when he questioned all his ministers and found they were in equal ignorance. Some time after delivering that speech, Mbeki began to discover the dissident arguments about the causes of AIDS and their views on anti-viral drugs.