The Democratic Alliance (DA) has withdrawn its request to the Public Protector to investigate whether President Thabo Mbeki intervened to assure a liver transplant for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
Party leader Helen Zille said on Thursday she made the decision after meeting Mbeki earlier in the week.
”The president gave me a categorical assurance that he had not used his influence to secure a liver transplant for the minister of health. I accept his assurance in this regard,” she said.
She said the party’s source on the matter could not corroborate the allegations and thus Mbeki’s assurance on the issue was accepted.
The DA had claimed that, according to an independent source, Mbeki phoned the Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Johannesburg, where the transplant was performed earlier this year, and insisted Tshabalala-Msimang receive the next available donor liver, irrespective of where she was on the waiting list. — Sapa