Mandela will return to prison for HIV benefit

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa —  Nelson Mandela will be just another prison number again when he plays host of an HIV-AIDS benefit concert on Robben Island, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in apartheid jails.

The Feb. 2 concert -- featuring artists such as U2’s Bono, Shaggy, Queen and Macy Gray -- will be held within the walls of the island prison, which is now a World Heritage site.

Organizers say the 84-year-old Mandela will walk onto the stage to the tune of a new song, “48864,” named for the number he wore as a prisoner during his time on the island.

“It’s a great way to close ... to chant this number and get Nelson Mandela to walk onto the stage and be able to speak to the world about HIV-AIDS and the number,” Dave Stewart, one half of Eurythmics and music coordinator for “Mandela SOS,” told reporters on a conference call.

Stewart said he, Bono and Joe Strummer of the Clash wrote the song, which will be on a “Mandela SOS” album.

Mandela, who admits he still finds it difficult to say the word “condom” in public, has become a leading AIDS awareness campaigner since he retired as South Africa’s first black president in 1999. At least one in nine South Africans, or about 4.8 million people in a population of 43 million, has the disease or is infected with the HIV virus that causes it. The concert will be televised globally, with all funds raised going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the United Nations’ program UNAIDS and two other groups.