South Africa’s top trade unionist has attacked President Thabo Mbeki for failing to stem a raging Aids pandemic in the latest sign of discord between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its labour allies. “This lack of government leadership on HIV is a betrayal of our people and our struggle,” Zwelinzima Vavi, secretary general of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), was quoted as saying in local newspapers yesterday.

South Africa is the country hardest hit by the pandemic with more than 5 million of its 45 million population believed to be infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids. Aids activists have criticised the government for its response to the epidemic, saying a roll-out of life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs has moved too slowly since the programme was introduced last year. Mbeki has taken much of the flak from critics who say he seems reluctant to acknowledge the extent of the disaster. COSATU, part of a governing alliance with the dominant ANC, has differed with the ruling party on the issue of Aids in the past but the strident tone of Vavi’s remarks and the personal attack on Mbeki were unprecedented.

Vavi’s comments come at a time when relations between the ANC and its leftist allies, COSATU and the South African Communist Party, are strained over a numb0er of issues including Mbeki’s sacking of his former deputy Jacob Zuma, a darling of the left who has been charged with corruption.

Vavi also criticised Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for stressing the role of nutrition and traditional medicine for Aids-sufferers instead of pushing to make anti-retroviral drugs more accessible to them. “There is nothing wrong with encouraging our people to eat and live healthily, but it is very wrong when there is silence about the need to ensure people have access to cheap anti-retrovirals,” he was quoted as saying. Officials at Mbeki’s presidency and COSATU were unavailable for immediate comment yesterday.