What happened to the fact that you are not supposed to eat or drink for at least 8 hrs before an operation?

What can we learn?
Every organisation needs a good crisis communications strategy and one spokesperson who knows exactly what to say or in their case what not to say.

What I find highly insulting about the whole thing is the fickleness of the news/journalism industry in particular. They use the sacking of the Deputy health minister as a platform to launch an attack on the Minister...why...just to sell newspapers. Why did the Minister's boozing episode not come out until now?

Objectivity is compromised always! when it comes to upping sales. I have no high-horse to sit on and expect nothing less from this industry because at the end of the day they are just a business...

ok well the Sunday Times article must have been written by a tee-totaller because I don't know whow anyone could have downed the amount of alcohol they wrote about (before after or during) an operation. But it was a good NEWS story - researched or not.
Why? because Manto is our Health Minister and she was given the liver of a teenage suicide victim - IN A PRIVATE HOSPITAL for what? For the betterment of society? So that she can continue to drink? To improve the lot of beetroot farmers? Or maybe to improve the standard of living of impoverished South Africans living with AIDS?

Or none of the above.

Mmmm. That is why it's SUCH A GOOD story.

I wish to ask what the fuss is all about,is it so bad for any public figures to decide what to do with their spare time,like drink alcohol when not in the office for instance?
Help me understand please,perplexed youth.

Is anybody going to reply Thabang?

I agree with Gatvol. What Manto does in her spare time is up to her really. The Sunday Times has overstepped the mark and I do hope that Mantombazana takes them to task for that. Amantombazana! Amantombazana! Asambe sogroovela! Bese siyaselela , bese siyasilelela.

Do you condone a high- profile figure such as a minister of health drinking alcohol in hospital? Then you are sick to the core!

There's no good PR for hypocrisy.

It's not about shooting down black politicians. It's about good governance. The Deputy was following her conscience.

I want to believe that Gatvol does not dispute the fact that Corporate Governance should be upheld but the issue here is about certain people who would have not waited for Manto to go to court (had it not been Manto but Tony Leon)but jumped at the opportunity to defend the act as violation of her constitutional right. Indeed why is Zille quiet, would she have not reacted if this happened to Toni Leon?

The lesson to be learnt from the Whole Manto Fiasco is that you have to get your facts straight before you go public with any coment. whether or not you tell a lie, it has a way of exposing itself in the end, and a white lie or ommission can do more harm than good as in this case.

I Obtained a degree in Corporate communication sum 3years back, but om not in the communication field. Infact im stuck in a dead end Job in the eastern cape which isnt too popular for Jobs in the PR Field. i did Volunteer work in an institution after i completed my degree and i had a blast!! I Guess il have to have the Courage to Move to JOzi, CT or Durbs, because its becoming pretty clear thati just may not find my ideal job here. Big Up to all you Girls in that Fabulous Career

I made the jump and moved from P.E to Jozi and would encourage you to do the same (if you feel that would help). Save a little cash to pay your bills while you are looking. And crash with someone you know until you can get a job and move out on your own. But what ever you do just remember that you are gonna have to make it happen yourself and have faith in your dreams.

I think the PR / Communication / Media Liason officer especially those that work for government or parastatals lacks ethical values to start with. Why am I saying this - is the fact that they allow themselves to be used as porns by their principals who happened to be politicians and are notorious of all sorts of things from back stabbing, character assasinations, lies and all manner of evil things to mention but few.

It is an open secret that Dr T-M has a bad temper and one can just assume that when she saw the article on Sunday Times, the first thing she did was throwing her toys around. Unfortunately her communications specialist (Mr Mngadi) failed dismally to calm her down let alone advice her on the implications that they as the Department of Health would suffer if they rush and deny the allegations made by Sunday Times.

This has actually open a can of worms, it has indicated that there is no 'crisis management plan' for the department. One is also beginning to wonder if any of the government departments has a plan to deal with any kind of a crisis.

We definetly need to declare a state of emergency in which all public sector spin doctors can be taught a manner in which they can deal with crisis. We see this happening on a daily basis in which spokesperson are made sacrificial lambs by their unethical principals and in a country with high unemployement rate, we certainly can not allow this to carry on any longer. People are loosing their much needed jobs, because of some angry politician. Not long ago the SABC lost one of its seasoned spokesperson because of some scandalous comment after the Deputy President was booed in KZN. The public broadcaster could have just apologised for not carrying that story in KZN. The easier way was to sack the spokesperson - how long must this carry on? We need the likes of PRISA to start waking-up and defend the profession. What is PRISA doing or saying about all these nonsensical practices? Surely they could not bother much to assist PR professionals.

Maybe we need a PRISA alternative!!!