An all-star AIDS benefit concert in South Africa featuring Bono [ tickets ], Shaggy [ tickets ], Elton John [ tickets ] and others has been called off due to contractual problems.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was to have hosted the event on Feb. 2 from Robbin Island, the former South African prison where he was imprisoned for 18 years. The concert was to have been simulcast at a 30,000-capacity Cape Town stadium.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation had been overseeing the event.

"The concert cannot take place since the proposed producers were not able to come to a satisfactory agreement with the foundation," John Samuel, chief executive of the Mandela Foundation said in a statement.

Mandela Foundation representatives later told reporters that the event's overseas producers had not secured the necessary sponsorship and broadcast rights for the event.

The day-long concert--which also was to feature Youssou N'dour, Macy Gray, Ludacris, Coldplay, Nelly Furtado and many more--was to have been televised around the world to raise money for the United Nations agency UNAIDS and other groups. It is estimated that one in five adults in South Africa are infected with the HIV virus.

Mandela had announced plans for the show during a December appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show.

"We got rid of apartheid," he said. "Now the time has come to rid the world of AIDS."

Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics was to serve as the event's musical coordinator. It was also to mark the debut of "48864," a song written by Bono, Stewart and the late Joe Strummer. Mandela wore the number in prison.