SOUTH AFRICA:Sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge broke her silence yesterday about her dismissal, suggesting she had been set up by people in government opposed to her campaigning stance on HIV/Aids.
Ms Madlala-Routledge revealed she was "almost dismissed" two years ago for "speaking out on the issue", and for specifically rubbishing claims by health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang that natural remedies, such as garlic beetroot and African potato, should be used to treat Aids.
She said her controversial boss had then "said to me, 'I will fix you', and maybe she has fixed me".
President Thabo Mbeki has yet to publicly explain why he dismissed Ms Madlala-Routledge, one of the most respected politicians in South Africa.
The sacked politician said Mr Mbeki had informed her in private, however, that she was being fired for two supposed acts of insubordination.
The first was her decision to travel to a recent Aids conference in Spain without prior permission from Mr Mbeki, and the second was her "unannounced visit" to a hospital in East London, in South Africa, "and for my response to the shocking situation that I found in the maternity ward".
Claiming that she had been merely doing her job in both cases, she remarked, somewhat diplomatically: "I do not believe the president had all the facts relating to the two incidents and the actions I took."
Members of the Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa's most prominent Aids lobby group, staged a demonstration in support of Ms Madlala-Routledge in Cape Town yesterday. Some protesters carried placards calling for her boss - dubbed "Dr Beetroot" in the local media for her unorthodox views on HIV treatment - to be sacked.
The dismissal has also drawn condemnation from opposition parties and international Aids experts, including the former UN special envoy on Aids in Africa, Stephen Lewis.
"It's a real blow for the struggle against the pandemic," he said. "It's a setback for the people in South Africa who felt their government had turned the corner on Aids, and quite a shock to people outside the country who felt the same."
Ms Madlala-Routledge, a senior member of both the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party, said she had received supportive calls from a number of politicians since her dismissal. However, she refused to be drawn on suggestions that her departure would exacerbate tensions in the ANC ahead of the party's leadership election in December.