Zimbabwe’s opposition leader returns to South Africa for medical care 2 weeks after his last trip


Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is back in a South African hospital for a medical review, nearly two weeks after he returned home from that country, his spokesman said on Friday, denying reports that he was critically ill.

Tsvangirai, a former prime minister and veteran opponent of President Robert Mugabe, announced last year that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and had begun chemotherapy.

Tsvangirai, who suffered severe vomiting after a party meeting and was in September airlifted to a Johannesburg hospital where he spent nearly a month receiving treatment and recuperating.

He returned to Zimbabwe on Oct. 13 but has not been seen in public since.

"He came back knowing full well he would return for a review and he went for the review as scheduled," Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai's spokesman said.

He could not say when he expected Tsvangirai back.

Tsvangirai's illness has divided the opposition, with some senior party officials saying the former trade unionist should consider stepping down to make way for a younger and fit leader.

Tsvangirai, 65, declared last year that he was receiving treatment for colon cancer. Despite the illness, he is leading an opposition alliance to challenge 93-year-old Mugabe in elections next year.


Reuters

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