Former Health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is in a stable condition at Charlotte Maxeke hospital, her doctor said on Monday.

"She is currently in a stable condition, not gravely ill as it was reported in the media," said Professor Jeff Wing.

Tshabalala-Msimang is back in hospital due to "issues around her liver" following the transplant she had in 2007.

Wing said it was too early to say whether or when she would be discharged.

After the transplant she received from a teenage suicide victim, controversy erupted when the Sunday Times reported that the cirrhosis which necessitated her first liver transplant was alcohol induced.

It also alleged that Tshabalala-Msimang had continued drinking alcohol even after receiving a new liver.