The African National Congress (ANC) and its allies reacted with outrage on Tuesday after Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille accused President Jacob Zuma of potentially exposing his wives to HIV.

The ANC said her remark was offensive, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called it "disgraceful".

The ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League (YCL) launched blistering personal attacks on Zille.

The ANCYL said it was "disgusted by remarks attributed to the racist girl Helen Zille, who when failing to defend her stupid and sexist decision to appoint predominantly white males into her Cabinet, attacks the President of the Republic of South Africa (sic)".

"Zille has appointed an all male cabinet of useless people, majority of whom are her boyfriends and concubines so that she can continue to sleep around with them, yet she claims to have the moral authority to question our President (sic)."

It threatened "militant action" against the Premier while the YCL weighed in with: "Ms Helen Zille is a sick woman who needs help (sic)."

The Sowetan on Tuesday quoted Zille as saying: "Zuma is a self-confessed womaniser with deeply sexist views, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman."

The remarks reportedly came in response to criticism from Cosatu Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich on the composition of her provincial executive.

Zille is the only woman on the team and has been widely criticised for surrounding herself with all-male, mostly white MECs.

Ehrenreich said Zille had appointed "severely challenged MECs, who are not the sharpest knives in the drawer", and threatened to call a strike to force the DA "to promote equality".

On Monday, Zuma's new Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, had described Zille's executive as "a serious concern for all of us" and "not a pretty picture".

Referring to Zuma's personal conduct, Zille, who fears that the national ANC government intends meddling in her province, retorted that the ANC's "professions of support for women's rights ring hollow indeed against this background".

Zuma conceded during his rape trial in 2006 he had had unprotected sex with his accuser, an HIV positive family friend, but had showered afterwards to prevent infection.

ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said instead of answering her critics, Zille has chosen to "insult and demonise" Zuma.

"Even by Zille's standards of personal invective, this latest attack is an unprecedented example of Zuma-hate. Zille's outburst is deeply offensive and should be roundly condemned," she said in a statement.

Duarte called on the rest of the DA to distance itself from Zille's views.

Cosatu said it was "disgusted" by Zille's response to Ehrenreich and reiterated his remark that the executive was an "insult to women and blacks".

"Rather than try to enter into a genuine debate on the representivity of her Cabinet, she has tried to deflect attention from these serious allegations with a disgraceful, and totally irrelevant, slur against President Jacob Zuma...

"Jacob Zuma has apologised over and over again for his conduct in the case she is referring to," it added.

"Yet Zille continues to play politics by dredging the issue up again, to avoid answering Tony Ehrenreich's serious allegations about the gender and racial make-up of her Western Cape Cabinet."

The furore comes less than a week after Zuma told Parliament upon his election as President, that he hoped to improve relations with the opposition.

Asked for comment, Zille's spokesman Fritz de Klerk said a response was being drafted.

Click here for the ANC's statement on Helen Zille's remarks.

Click here for Helen Zille's response.