One lingering look and Bongi and Elliot knew they wanted to be together. But later, their love disintegrated as lies, infidelity and a retrovirus played on their frailties and fears.

Busi has been too weak to get out of bed for the past two months. Her tiny eight-month-old baby, Nomsa, hangs limply in her listless arms. Even crying takes too much effort. Her home-based carer changes the sheets, which are streaked yellow with diarrhoea. She asks Busi'€™s mother how she is coping, but the mother shrugs and turns away so that we cannot see her tears. Five small children turn their worried faces towards us. "AIDS is not spoken about here," whispers the carer in warning, as I prepare to interview Busi.