South Africa wants whistleblower back

South Africa law enforcers are considering pursuing a whistleblowing nurse who moved to New Zealand after allegedly leaking explosive medical details about a Government minister.

The nurse does not want to go, and an opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has called the case "politically motivated persecution".

Now working in New Zealand, the nurse is accused of stealing the medical records of Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who, when Minister of Health in 2007, received a liver transplant.

A South African police spokeswoman, Senior Superintendent Tumi Golding, said a decision had not yet been made on extradition.

"We have requested the organised crime unit in the Western Cape to provide us with the documentation on the investigation ... There is no extradition [application] lodged yet," she said.

The Independent Newspapers group in South Africa was reliably told by prosecution sources that police were going ahead with extradition.

"Once we apply to New Zealand we wait for them to approve the extradition," said Ms Golding.

The leaked records are reported to show that Ms Tshabalala-Msimang drank alcohol during a hospital stay in 2005 and that her transplant was related to alcohol abuse.

The official explanation was that she had liver damage from auto-immune hepatitis.

The Sunday Times reported in 2007 that medical staff were sworn to secrecy over Ms Tshabalala-Msimang's condition.

The paper said she had been drinking before and after the transplant, and received the operation only because of her political position.

Others in her condition would have been denied the operation and died.

Standard liver transplant criteria were that alcoholic patients stop drinking for at least six months before surgery and permanently afterwards, to protect the transplanted organ.

Ms Tshabalala-Msimang has refused to comment, telling a reporter this week to leave her alone.

"Stop hunting me. Just leave me alone and give me my peace of mind," she said.

A minister in former President Thabo Mbeki's Administration, which was notorious for its stance on HIV/Aids, she was mocked as "Dr Beetroot" for her promotion of eating beetroot and garlic as defences against Aids.

She is now a backbench MP.

The Sunday Tribune said South African police had visited New Zealand, where they spoke to the nurse.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday refused to say if it had been approached regarding extradition of the nurse.

"We don't normally say whether we have received an extradition request or not," a spokeswoman said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Independent On Saturday, Johannesburg