The government in South Africa is investigating claims that millions of condoms being supplied to help tackle the spread of Aids are faulty.

Health workers found that a quarter of the free condoms issued to prostitutes in Cape Town were split or perished, and blame the government for inadequate import safeguards.

The Ministry of Health would not confirm reports that at least four-million suspect condoms have been returned to suppliers in India and China.

Two-hundred-million condoms a year are supplied in South Africa to try to reduce new H-I-V infections now running at fifteen-hundred a day.