SOUTH AFRICA: South African minister sees AIDS row link to sacking

Former South African deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge says a visit to a hospital maternity ward and attendance at an AIDS conference in Spain led to her sacking by President Thabo Mbeki. South Africa's sacked deputy health minister, praised for her efforts to tackle AIDS, said on Friday (August 10) that disagreements over how to fight the deadly virus might have led to her dismissal. AIDS activists and opposition politicians have criticised President Thabo Mbeki for sacking Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge earlier this week. Madlala-Routledge said she was punished for speaking out on dire health problems at a maternity ward and for an unauthorised trip to an AIDS conference in Spain. "I've been fired for paying an unannounced visit to Frere Hospital on the 13th of July 2007 and for my response to the shocking situation I found in the maternity ward," she said. AIDS policy is a touchstone issue in a country where an estimated 12 percent of the 47 million population is infected with HIV. About 1,000 South Africans die each day of AIDS and related diseases. The news conference was broadcast live on radio in South Africa and the sacking has been front-page news. South African media reported this week that Madlala-Routledge had travelled to Spain with her son and a consultant, at a cost to the taxpayer of 160,000 rand (22,310 U.S. dollars), to attend the conference without seeking Mbeki's approval. That sparked speculation she could face the axe from Mbeki, who has stuck by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang despite criticism over her AIDS policies. "I can disclose now that I know the reason the president did not approve this trip because he told me on Tuesday. He believed that the meeting was not for politicians. He believed that politicians had nothing to say in a conference of technocrats and researchers," Madlala-Routledge said. She said that on learning that Mbeki opposed her presence she had not taken part in the conference, although she had already arrived in Spain. Mbeki's office has said he did not need to give reasons for the move. Madlala-Routledge also told reporters that Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who had suggested fighting AIDS with garlic and beetroot rather than drug treatments, might have been behind Mbeki's decision to fire her. AIDS activists were delighted when Madlala-Routledge took the lead on AIDS policy when the health minister was forced to take time off due to illness and applauded her direct and proactive approach to the disease.

ITN Source | August 9, 2007

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