Party insists Zuma is fine but reports tell a different story

• The uMkhonto weSizwe Party says Jacob Zuma is healthy and home at Nkandla after a routine medical check-up on Tuesday.

• Reports say an ambulance took Zuma to hospital after he fell ill at an event, but dates and places differ.

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party says former president Jacob Zuma is healthy and back at his Nkandla home after a routine medical check-up. But reports say an ambulance took the 84-year-old to hospital after he fell ill.

Party spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said on Wednesday that Zuma has check-ups at least twice a year, including blood tests. “He is very much well and alive; it was a regular check-up,” Mahlangu said. The party said Zuma will return to the campaign trail on Friday.

The Witness, which broke the story on Tuesday, reported that Zuma took ill earlier that day and arrived at a Pietermaritzburg hospital by ambulance. It spoke to an eyewitness and a party insider at the hospital.

Business Day gives a different timeline. It reports that an independent source says Zuma was rushed to a private hospital in Msinga after a party rally on Monday. Scrolla.Africa has not been able to confirm which account is correct.

A close family associate told IOL that Zuma had been feeling unwell, but that his condition was not serious. The associate said the admission coincided with his routine check-up.

The party has not said why an ambulance was needed. Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi declined to comment. Zuma’s medical details are private, and neither the foundation nor his family has released more information.

Zuma was president from 2009 to 2018 and now leads the uMkhonto weSizwe Party. The reports come as the party campaigns for the local government elections on 4 November.