S Africa Govt Slams Drug Firms Over AIDS Play Row

South Africa's government, including President Nelson Mandela, has attacked multinational drug firms and the "white media" after a mystery benefactor who had offered to bail the Health Department out of a financial and political scandal withdrew his offer.

In January, the new government's biggest embarrassment yet revealed that the Department had spent 14.3 billion rand ($3.18 billion), nearly one-third of its annual AIDS awareness budget, on a controversial AIDS awareness play, Sarafina 2. In late 1995, Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma had approached playwright and musician Mbongeni Ngema after the Broadway staging of his successful musical Sarafina with her idea of promoting AIDS awareness through theater. He was awarded the project, for which about 1 million rand was earmarked after an irregular tender procedure, and came up with Sarafina 2.

But after its premier in Durban on World AIDS Day in December 1995, the play was slammed by AIDS experts, health workers and theater managers, especially over the poor, faulty and misleading content of the message, and the price of the tickets. Mr Ngema was ordered to make substantial changes in response to the criticism over the content.