At an Aids candle-lighting memorial in Cape Town, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said making HIV treatment and support programmes more available to those infected with the virus was the linchpin of the government's prevention strategy.

"Affected communities have to be aware and must be encouraged to access treatment, care and support services that government has made available free of charge throughout the country," said Tshabalala-Msimang, who has courted controversy with her unorthodox views on Aids.

Tshabalala-Msimang has been a pivotal figure in South Africa's HIV/Aids crisis since becoming health minister in 1999, engaging in bitter debates with Aids activists and at times appearing to question accepted HIV science.

South Africa will next month unveil a strategic plan to combat what is one of the world's worst HIV/Aids epidemics. About one in nine South Africans, or an estimated 5-million, are HIV-positive, and up to 1 000 people die from Aids each day.

The minister, who has been resting at home since she was operated on in March after a long-running battle with hepatitis, did not mention whether the government would speed up its rollout of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to combat the disease.

The government has said it hopes to expand the number of people accessing ARVs five-fold to 1-million by 2011.

Tshabalala-Msimang drew international condemnation at last year's world Aids conference in Toronto for promoting garlic and beetroot as treatments for HIV.

Her withdrawal from public life and the prospect that she might not return to lead the health department privately delighted some activists and scientists, who have long considered her an obstacle.

Tshabalala-Msimang, however, suggested on Wednesday that she would be returning to her old job.

"My doctor has asked (me) to ease back into work ... I'm feeling strong. My last evaluation indicates that I am fine."