The war of words between the Sunday Times and Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang continued at the weekend when the first edition of the newspaper reported her being "a drunk and a thief".
The Sunday Times reported that it had established that she had required her liver transplant this year because she was an alcoholic and that the transplant and subsequent cover-up caused tension among doctors and staff involved.
They knew that Tsabalala-Msimang had been drinking before the procedure, standard procedure being 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 an anaesthetic while superintendent of a hospital in Botswana in 1976.
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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."
Last weekend, the Sunday Times published a story about the minister's alleged drinking while at the Cape Town Medi-Clinic for a shoulder operation in 2005.
The Sunday Times had admitted to being in possession of the confidential medical records of the Minister, leading to Johannesburg High Court order compelling the newspaper to return all but one copy to the hospital.
Health Ministry spokespeople Sibani Mngadi and Charity Bhengu could not be reached for comment. - Sapa
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