Rally for Madlala-Routledge in Cape Town

Aids pressure groups in South Africa will be holding a protest rally in support of the former deputy health minister who was sacked earlier this month.

Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the Aids Law Project (ALP) will hold a protest against Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge's dismissal at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town on Wednesday (August 29th).

The TAC and ALP recently established the Support Good Governance-Support Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge Fund which will provide short-term financial assistance to the minister whose salary is currently being withheld by the health department.

ALP's Mark Heywood told the Cape Times : "A large number of people have already expressed their support with donations of between ZAR1,000 (£69) and ZAR10,000 (£688) rolling in."

Madlala-Routledge, who worked for six years as a medical laboratory technologist, criticised health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, with whom she was known to have several differences of opinion especially with regards to anti-retroviral drugs.