JOHANNESBURG South Africa AP South Africa can conquer AIDS just as it defied the ``prophets of doom'' who predicted a violent transition from apartheid President Nelson Mandela said Tuesday. ``South Africans have overcome obstacles which others thought were insurmountable because we joined hands to work for the good of all rather than remaining divided by less important things'' he said. Mandela gave a speech marking World AIDS Day in Mtubatuba a town in the Indian Ocean province of KwaZulu-Natal -- the hardest-hit province in a country with one of the world's worst AIDS problems. One out of four adults in the province is estimated to be infected with the HIV virus which causes AIDS. The disease is rapidly coursing through the country after years of isolation under apartheid. The national infection rate is as much as 14 percent. Half of southern Africa's infections this year occurred in South Africa according to U.N. figures released Monday. ``Although AIDS has been apart of our lives for 15 years or more we have kept silent about its true presence in our midst'' Mandela said. ``We have too often spoken of it as if it was someone else's problem.'' Mandela appealed to South Africans to break the silence; to show compassion to people living with the infection and disease; to abstain from sex or use a condom; to be tested for the virus. ``Just as we defied the prophets of doom who foresaw endless conflict in our land we can defeat this terrible disease by all of us accepting responsibility for prevention of infection and for care of those who have been affected'' Mandela said. djw APW19981201.0395.txt.body.html APW19981201.1340.txt.body.html