Mandela's Son Died of AIDS
Former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela announced that his only surviving son had died of AIDS, Thursday, January 6, 2004. Makgatho Mandela, 54, died in a Johannesburg clinic where he had been receiving treatment for more than a month. Mandela had been vocal about the fight against AIDS long before his successor, President Thabo Mbeki, announced a national treatment plan for HIV sufferers. AIDS affects more than one in five adults in South Africa, with some 5.3 million people living with HIV and AIDS, according to UNAIDS.