JOHANNESBURG, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The former deputy to South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the minister deliberately undercut her efforts to tackle chronic illness in the AIDS-ravaged country. In a speech on Thursday night, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge said Msimang, dubbed "Dr. Beetroot" for her controversial advocacy of certain foods as frontline treatments for HIV/AIDS, sabotaged her work in the department, SAPA news agency reported. "The minister did make it very difficult for me to perform in those areas and, in particular, I mention the fact that the department was stopped, was not allowed to interact with me directly," Madlala-Routledge said in Durban. Madlala-Routledge was praised by activists for embracing a conventional approach to fighting the AIDS epidemic. She was fired by President Thabo Mbeki last month for insubordination after failing to seek permission for a foreign trip. The dismissal sparked a public outcry and was widely regarded as a move to bolster Tshabalala-Msimang, an Mbeki ally who has come under pressure from political opponents since returning to her job after liver transplant surgery in March. About 1,000 South Africans die each day from AIDS and another 1,500 become infected with HIV. Madlala-Routledge is a rising star in the South African Communist Party, which is in a coalition with Mbeki's ruling African National Congress but has become disenchanted with what it sees as the pro-business direction of his government.
