The Cabinet on Thursday objected to ”highly personalised” comments in the media on Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s well-being.
The African National Congress (ANC) parliamentary caucus also lambasted a Democratic Alliance (DA) MP for her ”insensitive” remarks about the minister.
In a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday, government communications head Themba Maseko said Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting had taken exception to some highly personalised comments on the state of Tshabalala-Msimang’s health.
”Cabinet regards media reports about her performance at [a press conference last week] as inaccurate and exaggerated.
”While we respect everyone’s right to criticise members of the executive, such personalised attacks are not constructive,” he said.
Cabinet also condemned a statement by the DA about her health as ”appalling and extremely distasteful”.
Maseko said Tshabalala-Msimang’s colleagues who were also at the press conference disagreed with media reports that she was ”incoherent”, among other things.
The Cabinet accepted that the public and media could comment on the state of health of any minister, but was particularly concerned about the ”personalised effect addressed to the minister”, which actually challenged her person in a very undignified manner.
Tshabalala-Msimang was again admitted to Johannesburg Hospital earlier this week, Maseko confirmed.
She was in a stable condition in the hospital’s intensive-care unit, her spokesperson said on Thursday.
”She is responding to treatment for significant anaemia and residual small-pleural [of the lungs] effusion [an escape of fluid into a body cavity],” said Sibani Mngadi.
”She is not and has never been on the ventilator as was reported in some media.”
Tshabalala-Msimang was admitted on Tuesday night. Tests are still being conducted.
Arrangements are also being made for the attending doctor to brief the media on Friday about Tshabalala-Msimang’s condition.
Her family reiterated its appeal to allow her privacy and some time to rest, said Mngadi.
Meanwhile, the ANC has wished Tshabalala-Msimang a ”speedy and complete” recovery.
”We trust that she will draw strength from the many people across the country who appreciate and daily benefit from her determined efforts to improve the health of the nation,” said party spokesman Smuts Ngonyama.
Her health has been under the spotlight since she returned to work a few weeks ago, reportedly against doctors’ orders, after suffering a long illness.
She was admitted to the same hospital last year for several weeks after reportedly suffering from a lung infection.
Maseko said Tshabalala-Msimang remained minister of health ”until such time as a different decision is taken”.
Cabinet would continue to give and offer her as much support as possible.
‘Shocking defiance’
In a statement on Thursday, the ANC parliamentary caucus said it was appalled at the insensitive remarks attributed to DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
”The reference to the minister as a ‘terrifying sight’ and that she must be removed from office ‘before dying there’ by the DA MP, as quoted in the weekend press, is a shocking defiance of basic standards of human behaviour.
”It is indeed sad when political opposition stoops so low that an opposition member takes delight in the personal hardships of those she differs with.
”The ANC caucus is shocked by Ms Kohler-Barnard’s insensitivity and lack of human decency.
”We trust that her remarks are not representative of the entire DA leadership collective and call on the party to publicly distance itself from such comments,” the statement said.
It also condemned the opinion articles ”penned by certain journalists echoing similar sentiments”, which demonstrated a lack of sensitivity by some sections of the media. — Sapa