Mbeki wants proof

JOHANNESBURG – President Thabo Mbeki would require evidence before considering media reports that Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was an alcoholic and had been convicted of theft, his office said yesterday.

Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said the president responded to an article in the Sunday Times which reported Tshabalala-Msimang being ‘a drunk and a thief’ by reiterating a statement he issued on August 13. “Anyone who may have evidence which demonstrates that any minister or deputy minister has acted in dereliction of duty is welcome to forward such evidence to the Presidency,” the statement read.The Sunday Times reported that chronic alcoholism was the real reason the minister had a liver transplant.The article alleges doctors and staff knew that Tshabalala-Msimang had been drinking before her liver transplant.Standard procedure is that alcoholic patients stop drinking for between six to 12 months before surgery, and permanently after surgery, the report read.The newspaper further reported that the health minister had been convicted of stealing a watch from a patient who was under anaesthetic while superintendent of a hospital in Botswana in 1976.She was then expelled from the country and declared a prohibited immigrant, according to the report.The report quoted an employee at the Athlone Hospital at Lobatse, near Gaborone, who was not named, as saying: “Everyone here thinks it’s hilarious that she is today a health minister in South Africa.”An article in last week’s edition of the Sunday Times details the minister’s alleged drinking habits during a Cape Town hospital stay two years ago.In a statement issued last week the Presidency said”: “Allegations published in the weekend press do not warrant the President to take action against the Minister of Health”.”The Presidency would like to reassure all South Africans of the integrity of the public health system as led by Minister Tshabalala-Msimang and the Cabinet collective,” the statement issued on August 13 read.Earlier this week, the Sunday Times admitted to being in possession of the confidential medical records of the minister.Nampa-Sapa”Anyone who may have evidence which demonstrates that any minister or deputy minister has acted in dereliction of duty is welcome to forward such evidence to the Presidency,” the statement read.The Sunday Times reported that chronic alcoholism was the real reason the minister had a liver transplant.The article alleges doctors and staff knew that Tshabalala-Msimang had been drinking before her liver transplant.Standard procedure is that alcoholic patients stop drinking for between six to 12 months before surgery, and permanently after surgery, the report read.The newspaper further reported that the health minister had been convicted of stealing a watch from a patient who was under anaesthetic while superintendent of a hospital in Botswana in 1976.She was then expelled from the country and declared a prohibited immigrant, according to the report.The report quoted an employee at the Athlone Hospital at Lobatse, near Gaborone, who was not named, as saying: “Everyone here thinks it’s hilarious that she is today a health minister in South Africa.”An article in last week’s edition of the Sunday Times details the minister’s alleged drinking habits during a Cape Town hospital stay two years ago.In a statement issued last week the Presidency said”: “Allegations published in the weekend press do not warrant the President to take action against the Minister of Health”.”The Presidency would like to reassure all South Africans of the integrity of the public health system as led by Minister Tshabalala-Msimang and the Cabinet collective,” the statement issued on August 13 read.Earlier this week, the Sunday Times admitted to being in possession of the confidential medical records of the minister.Nampa-Sapa