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Mugabe in SA on private visit, not ill-health say officials

    JOHANNESBURG

    News reports that Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe was flown to South Africa at the weekend for medical treatment have been denied by officials from both countries.

    Well-placed South African government sources told IRIN on Monday that Mugabe had flown into Johannesburg on Saturday on a private visit and left the same day. South African foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa also confirmed that the Zimbabwean president had been in the country on a private trip.

    Mugabe had flown into South Africa on a commercial flight, a senior government source told IRIN, to meet and accompany his wife back to Zimbabwe. She had apparently been vacationing in South Africa.

    A spokesperson for Zimbabwe's Ministry of Information confirmed that Mugabe had left for a private visit to Johannesburg on a South African Airways commercial flight, and had returned the same day. The spokesperson said he was not in a position to comment on Mugabe's health.

    Some members of the South African media ran reports on Monday that Mugabe had been in Pretoria over the weekend for medical attention. The United Kingdom's Sunday Telegraph, quoting a member of the Zimbabwean president's security staff, said Mugabe had been airlifted to South Africa after allegedly collapsing from a vomiting fit.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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