Associated Press - Wednesday October 25, 2000
Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer

Although foreign investment has fallen substantially since Mbeki took office in June 1999, the South African president told foreign journalists he did not believe his administration was at fault.

"I haven't met anybody who said that," Mbeki said at his first press conference with the foreign media since he took office. He pointed to new projects by foreign automobile companies as proof that his country, the wealthiest in Africa, remains attractive to investors.

He also shrugged off a recent poll that showed his popularity had fallen from 71 percent in May to 50 percent.

Mbeki drew international criticism for his confusing response to AIDS, and for associating with dissident AIDS theorists who doubt the existence of the disease or believe it is not caused by HIV. An estimated 4.2 million people in South Africa are infected with the deadly virus.

The South African government introduced guidelines on AIDS treatment this week that recognize the link between HIV and AIDS. Mbeki has reduced his involvement in the issue, but said he did not regret joining the dialogue. "People are dying from AIDS and there is no vaccine. It is a serious problem," he said. "How does the president of South Africa say, 'I stay away from this major catastrophe?'

"The questions we are asking are not idle. They have to do with ensuring that as a government we respond correctly to the actual situation that we face," he said.

He said he also worried about the potential economic collapse of neighboring Zimbabwe, which has the second-largest economy in southern Africa.

"That would have very, major disastrous consequences for us," he said.

"Our challenge is to do whatever we can to contribute to stopping a further decline."

Zimbabwe, struggling with high unemployment and inflation, has been wracked by political turmoil and violence, which opposition leaders and human rights activists blame on President Robert Mugabe.

Mbeki condemned political violence in the country - something he has been criticized for not doing in the past. But he said it was not his place to call for Mugabe's ouster.

"The issue of whether an elected president of Zimbabwe continues to be the elected president of Zimbabwe is surely a matter for the Zimbabwean people," he said.

Journalists in South Africa have complained that Mbeki has been far less accessible than his predecessor, Nelson Mandela. He appeared relaxed as he faced the foreign press and stayed beyond the allotted hour to answer questions.

He called for prompt new elections in the Ivory Coast, which was thrown into turmoil after the junta leader declared himself the winner of Sunday's elections, then fled the country in the face of public demonstrations.

Mbeki also discussed his efforts to mediate an end to the war in the Congo and his efforts to increase the economic power of black South Africans six years after the end of the racist apartheid regime.

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