ANC MPs on Thursday rallied around embattled Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to protect her from the ‘unfair treatment†that she has received at the hands of opposition parties and her other detractors.
A motion, tabled in Parliament on Thursday afternoon, was shot down by the ANC because it was bent on ‘damaging her integrity and injuring her dignityâ€.
The motion asked for the appointment of an ad hoc committee that would investigate the fitness of the minister to remain in office.
The ANC said it could not allow a senior minister to be subjected to this kind of humiliation.
The motion comes in the light of revelations that Tshabalala-Msimang stole a watch from a patient while she was superintendent of a hospital in Botswana in 1976.
Sandra Botha, DA parliamentary leader, said the poor state of healthcare — listing the rising infant mortality rates and decreasing life expectancy — begs the question of whether the minister was fit to do her job.
‘The requested committee must decide whether the minister’s fitness to hold office can be approved, if measured in terms of this background and the legally defined rationality test on the conduct of public power.â€
The information was published in the Sunday Times. The newspaper also reported that the minister was an alcoholic and a kleptomaniac.
The motion from the DA was supposed to be tabled on Tuesday, but the ANC asked for a postponement to discuss it at its regular caucus meeting on Thursday.
An ANC MP told the Mail & Guardian that the motion was shot down by the caucus because it was not the ‘done thing†to support a motion that would bring embarrassment to a senior member of the party.
‘She is a very important person with huge struggle credentials. The party will not turn against her now, she will be protected at all costs.â€
The recent set of reports about Tshabalala-Msimang was a concerted effort to put the minister in a bad light.
‘We see it as an attack on Manto through the media. It is felt that she is treated unfairly,†the parliamentarian said.
The ANC decided to amend the motion and stated that the party had confidence in the minister’s ability to hold office.
‘There is no need for any committee to be established on this matter,†said James Ngculu, chairperson of the portfolio committee for health.
He added that the motion was also unconstitutional because the Constitution allowed anyone to become an elected representative after five years of being sentenced for a crime.
The merits of the media reports, which claim that Tshabalala-Msimang has an alcohol problem despite being a liver patient, were not discussed in the open by the ANC, another ANC MP said. The focus was entirely on the invasion of her privacy and the theft of her medical records.
Tshabalala-Msimang said earlier this week that she would speak out on the matter ‘at an appropriate timeâ€, but she was closely following the reports on the investigation into the case of theft against Sunday Times.