The 34-year-old HIV-positive mother of two, who lives in a one-bedroom flat in Bayview, Chatsworth, said people in her community refused to accept her status.

She has experienced first-hand the perception that Indians are not infected by the virus.

She said she discovered that she was HIV-positive seven years ago after her husband died of full-blown Aids.

"I'm suffering because I cannot support myself and my children. Before people knew of my sickness, they would help me. But now they don't want to help me," she said.

Dr Krishna Nair, the medical director of the Chatsworth Hospice, said although figures of the number of Indian people infected with HIV were not available, he had seen an increasing number of cases over the past 15 years.

"A lot of people who are now infected still keep it a secret and will not talk about it. Being transparent about their status is very difficult," said Nair.

"For example, I have a patient who has a top position as a prosecutor who is HIV- positive. She had a short relationship with someone and had unprotected sex. Now she is positive and will not divulge her status to anybody. She was not a loose girl at all, but she fears people will think she is loose."

Nair also blamed the increase in HIV infections among Indians on "some promiscuous Indian males".

"Some tend to use sex workers and then carry the disease home to their wives. You will find that HIV infections in the Indian community are largely in males over the age of 40, unlike in other communities where it is infecting younger people."

Asha Lalloo, the HIV/Aids co-ordinator at the Phoenix Child and Family Welfare Society, said the fear of being identified as HIV-positive drove people to seek medical help outside their residential areas.

She said some HIV-positive people shunned therapeutic sessions and support groups to avoid disclosing their status.

The director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit at the Medical Research Council, Professor Gita Ramjee, said: "All individuals, no matter their race group, do not perceive themselves as being at risk of HIV. Therefore, to combat the virus, every individual needs to practise safe sex and be aware that the risk of infection is very great, given the high prevalence of HIV in SA."

Rehana, 33, from Lenasia, Johannesburg, contracted the disease from her husband and found out that she was HIV-positive only when she was in hospital for a kidney infection four years ago.

She left her husband, who blamed her for becoming infected. "He went around telling people that I was unfaithful when he had been the unfaithful partner," she said.

She and her two young children moved in with her mother.

"I have come to accept it and I live a normal life, especially living in the Indian community, where people treat you differently and talk about you among themselves. I live a positive life and try to do my best for my daughters."

She hoped the community would become more open to talking about the disease.

The Chatsworth Youth Centre, in a bid to fight prejudice and improve education on HIV/Aids, will hold an awareness campaign on December 1 to mark World Aids Day.