Did Mandela's Son Die of AIDS?

Former South African president Nelson Mandela says that his eldest son, Makgatho, "died of AIDS." It's a tragedy. But other stories did not directly say that he had "died of AIDS." Here's how the Washington Post put it: "Former South African president Nelson Mandela announced Thursday that his son, Makgatho Mandela, 54, had died that morning of illness related to AIDS..." The Post also said, "A spokesman for the Mandela family, Isaac Amuah, said in a phone interview that the immediate cause of Makgatho's death was complications from a gallbladder operation. But he said that AIDS was a contributing factor and that Mandela was determined to portray the death as resulting from AIDS to demystify the disease."

What is going on here?

Nevertheless, AP ran a story saying that the anti-apartheid icon had revealed "the cause of his son's death" and had appealed "for greater openness about the disease."

Greater openness when AIDS was a "factor" but not the real cause?

This is not just an academic discussion. In Africa, you don't need to test positive for HIV to be have AIDS.  If you are thin, have pneumonia, are sweating, vomiting, or coughing, you can have AIDS. This is the Banqui definition of AIDS.  According to Anita Allen, writing at Red Flags Weekly, there are 30-odd diseases under the Banqui definition - TB, malaria, leprosy, STD’s, dysentery, Hepatitis, meningitis, pneumonia - even cervical cancer - "which if you think about it is the opposite of the cell death caused by a virus."