Sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge talks at a news conference in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday. Madlala-Routledge, credited with revamping South Africa's beleaguered campaign against AIDS, expressed fears that her achievements would be undone now that she has been forced out of the department.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP):

The dismissed deputy health minister who was credited with revamping South Africa's beleaguered campaign against AIDS expressed fears yesterday that her work would be undone now that she has been forced out.

Speaking for the first time since she was fired late Wednesday, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge told reporters of clashes with her boss, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who has been blasted for her promotion of garlic and lemons as AIDS remedies. Her firing has drawn new attention to rifts within the governing ANC, as well as raised concern about the direction of AIDS policy in one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic.

Madlala-Routledge said there was still much "excitement and enthusiasm" for a new five-year plan she helped create to combat AIDS.

"People are waiting to see if the spirit of unity we had achieved will remain intact. We really do need a united front. I hope that will remain," she said at a press conference in Cape Town that was broadcast nationally by a private radio station.

President Thabo Mbeki fired Madlala-Routledge late Wednesday. He gave no reason. Madlala-Routledge said yesterday she was fired for attending an AIDS conference in Spain without Mbeki's permission and for comments about poor conditions in a rural hospital that contradicted statements by Tshabalala-Msimang.

powerful figure

Mbeki whose own record fighting AIDS has been criticised by AIDS activist is a staunch ally of Tshabalala-Msimang, whose husband, Mendi, is a powerful figure in the ruling African National Congress.

Madlala-Routledge's dismissal was criticized by AIDS activists included several who demonstrated in her support during the news conference, waving placards calling for Tshabalala-Msimang to be fired instead. Opposition politicians also expressed outrage.

Patricia De Lille, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle who now leads a small opposition party, issued a statement yesterday calling Madlala-Routledge "a heroine of our new struggle against HIV/AIDS."

AP