Mbeki attacks critics over deputy minister sacking

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 17 (Reuters) South African President Thabo Mbeki, battling to maintain leadership of the ruling ANC party, accused supporters of his sacked deputy health minister today of trying to undermine the party.

Mbeki sacked the respected Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge last week for insubordination, sparking an outcry from AIDS activists who backed her policies and criticism by some media.

In a strongly worded letter posted on the African National Congress Web site, Mbeki denounced ''an ill-founded and ill-intentioned hue and cry'', lambasting the media for ''shameless lies'' and a trade union for criticising the dismissal.

''We, and the overwhelming majority of our people ... have been painfully alerted to the fact that not everybody in our country and abroad, is happy that the ANC enjoys the confidence of the masses of our people,'' Mbeki wrote.

''Equally, others are unhappy that, contrary to the predictions of the doomsayers about African countries, we have managed the transition from white minority rule to non-racial, democratic rule,'' he said.

Opponents of Mbeki accuse him of purging opponents as he tries to hold on to political power and of playing the race card to counter negative press.

Mbeki is barred from serving again as president after his term expires in 2009. But he can contest the ANC leadership, something he has said he is willing to do.

However Mbeki has watched support slip away from crucial political allies -- unions and the South African Communist party (SACP), who are increasingly critical of his pro-business policies.

These pressures, political analysts say, forced Mbeki to sack Madlala-Routledge, who had won widespread praise for her direct and proactive approach to tackling AIDS.

Madlala-Routledge, a rising star in the South African Communist Party, had publicly criticised the health minister, a close Mbeki ally who horrified AIDS activists by favouring garlic and beetroot over drugs in the fight against AIDS.

Aside from the political fallout, Madlala-Routledge's dismissal raised fresh concerns over Mbeki's commitment to fighting AIDS, which infects an estimated 12 per cent of South Africa's 47 million people.

REUTERS ARB PM1825