Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille challenged political leaders on Monday -- including President Thabo Mbeki -- to a test to ascertain their HIV status.

De Lille said the stigma, silence, confusion and denial surrounding HIV/Aids was affecting campaigns aimed at fighting the epidemic.

"President Mbeki must illustrate by testing, even if he does this privately, and positive spin-offs may come out of that demonstration," she told reporters at Chris Hani-Baragwanath hospital in Johannesburg.

"It'll be positive for the president to test because since I last challenged political leaders to set an example by going for HIV tests, the situation on the ground has changed significantly, while at the top it remained the same.

"Research has shown that those countries whose political leader have driven the HIV strategy have met the greatest success of reducing infection rates."

De Lille was speaking at the hospital where she launched her party's "Know Your Status" campaign, which sought to encourage South Africans to be tested to ascertain their HIV/Aids status.

She said in order to effectively counter the pandemic all South Africans should know their HIV status and be empowered to take preventative measures.

Too many only discover that they are-HIV positive when they get sick from an opportunistic infection and find themselves in hospital.

"It is often too late because their immune system are already too weak to bounce back," she said.

"Once one knows their status early, they can go for treatment and change their lifestyle."

De Lille unveiled the "Know Your Status" drive by publicly taking an HIV test at the hospital's prenatal HIV research unit.

"The reason I am taking the test is because we are ten years behind from the rest of the world in terms of fighting the Aids pandemic and are still in denial," she said.

"South Africa is in a denial phase, including business and community based organisations. The stigma attached to the diseases is contributing to this state of affairs."

ID Gauteng leader Themba Sono, ID secretary-general Auril Harding and ID president co-ordinator Henry Oosthuizen also took the test. All results were negative.

Presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said: "We are not interested in responding to these silly shenanigans by Patricia De Lille. These are not meant for nothing other than attracting votes." - Sapa.