The ANC has fired a broadside at the media for "endorsing" the Sunday Times "crusade" against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
"Essentially, the precedent that is set is that on the whims of this press principle, members of the public surrender all their rights to the mighty media," read a statement by the ANC parliamentary caucus.
"It also means that any member of the public can be stripped of any right and crucified willy-nilly by the media on the altar of the principle of 'public interest'," it continued.
The ANC in parliament on Tuesday countered a symbolic bid by the Democratic Alliance to push for a vote of no confidence in Tshabalala-Msimang by giving their comrade a vote of confidence instead.
South African National Editors' Forum chairperson Jovial Rantao has said the organisation was "opposed to the wilful, malicious and vindictive violation of privacy of individuals, especially when it concerns children and family".
He said the forum respected the individual's right to privacy, except where it conflicted clearly with public interest. The revelations concerning Tshabalala-Msimang were clearly in the public interest.
Rantao urged the minister to test the truth of the allegations before the courts.
In another development yesterday, the medical centre where Tshabalala-Msimang had her liver transplant denied that any of its staff had been "forced", "threatened" or had their "arm twisted" by President Thabo Mbeki in order to sanction her operation.
This was in response to allegations by the DA, which has asked the Public Protector to investigate if Mbeki abused his position by helping the minister to jump the transplant queue - a claim the Presidency says is "pure fiction".
A day after the ANC's national working committee expressed full confidence in the embattled minister, the ruling party used members' statements time in the house to defend and endorse Tshabalala-Msimang.
However, it was left to a backbencher to do so.
The few members of the executive present - including Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel - opted instead to reply to statements on other issues.
The health minister, who is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was not present in parliament; nor was her sacked deputy, Nozizwe Madlala- Routledge, who is now an ordinary MP.
Instead, it was left to ANC MP Maureen Madumise, the party's whip for health.
"These negative comments and publications are not only aimed at the minister but are also an attempt to undermine the people's confidence in our country's policies and the executive," she said.
ANC MP James Ngculu, who chairs the national assembly's health committee, directed his ire at the Sunday Times, saying that publishing the health minister's confidential medical records had been a "deplorable act of insensitivity and a potential crime".
At the start of Tuesday's plenary sitting, the DA's leader in parliament, Sandra Botha, called for a vote of no confidence in Tshabalala-Msimang and for her resignation, failing which she should be fired.
Other opposition parties also asked for the allegations to be probed.
Responding to the Presidency's calls for proof of dereliction of duty by the minister, the Public Service Accountability Monitor said the proof Mbeki wanted was available in the Auditor-General's reports and in the annual reports of South Africa's national and provincial health departments.
Late on Tuesday, the Sunday Times argued that publishing the reports about Tshabalala-Msimang had formed part of a national debate.
"There is a debate in South Africa as to whether or not the first applicant is a fit occupant of the high office she holds," the paper said in an affidavit served in the afternoon.
This was in reply to the minister's legal bid to prevent the paper from commenting on or publishing any further on her health records relating to her 2005 stay in hospital.
The answering affidavit was expected to be filed in the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday. It was served on the minister's legal team on Tuesday afternoon. - Sapa