Evidence must be presented before any action can be taken against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the African National Congress Youth League said on Wednesday.
The league's spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, said: "There has got to be a basis before any action can be taken".
The Sunday Times reported that chronic alcoholism was the real reason the minister had a liver transplant earlier this year.
The newspaper wrote that the minister, while superintendent of a hospital in Botswana in 1976, had been convicted of stealing a watch from a patient who was under anaesthetic.
Last Sunday the newspaper published a story about the minister's alleged drinking while at the Cape Town Medi-Clinic for a shoulder operation in 2005.
The allegations in the report sparked debate on whether Tshabalala-Msimang was fit to hold her officer.
Political parties and the Congress of SA Trade Unions have called for a probe into claims against Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, but the Presidency said it would not act unless evidence was produced.
Kodwa said on Wednesday that action could not be taken merely on the basis of media reports.
"Somebody must convince president that there is something beyond media reports." - Sapa