By Michael Georgy

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 9 (Reuters) - South African opposition parties and AIDS activists lambasted President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday for sacking his deputy health minister, who has won widespread praise for her outspoken approach to the disease.

A statement from the presidency said Mbeki, whose government has been accused of dragging its feet on AIDS, had relieved Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge of her duties, with immediate effect.

The move raised fresh questions about the battle against AIDS in South Africa, where an estimated 12 percent of the 47 million population is infected with HIV. About 1,000 South Africans die each day of AIDS and related diseases.

Newspapers reported this week that Madlala-Routledge had travelled to Spain with her son and a consultant, at a cost to the taxpayer of 160,000 rand ($22,850), without seeking Mbeki's approval.

AIDS activists were delighted when Madlala-Routledge took a lead in the fight against AIDS after the health minister was forced to take time off due to illness, and applauded her direct and proactive approach to the disease.

"It's (her sacking) an absolute disgrace," said Mike Waters, the Democratic Alliance's health spokesman.

"The fact is for the first time we had a deputy minister with a clear direction in the fight against AIDS. Both the president and the minister are denialists, while the deputy minister has her feet stuck in reality."

"What it shows is that the president is a bully," Waters said. "If you agree with him you are protected but if you don't agree with him, you have got to watch your back."

Activists have criticised Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for advocating natural remedies to treat AIDS, including garlic, beetroot and the African potato.

Mbeki has stuck by his controversial health minister despite international criticism over her AIDS policies.

At a conference in South Africa in June, scientists and health workers said they were encouraged by the government's pledge to expand the rollout of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and increase HIV testing.

Mbeki's critics said the sacking showed he was not serious about tackling the disease ravaging South Africans.

Treatment Action Campaign, an AIDS activist group, called his decision a "dreadful error in judgement".

"It indicates that the President still remains opposed to the science of HIV and to appropriately responding to the epidemic. We call on him to reverse his decision," the group said in a statement.

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