HARARE – Primary and secondary education minister Cain Ginyilitshe Mathema has been airlifted to Harare from Bulawayo after his health deteriorated, ZimLive can reveal.
The 74-year-old was admitted to the United Bulawayo Hospitals’ refurbished Covid-19 facility in mid-August after catching the respiratory illness.
Sources said the minister was flown to Harare on August 28 and is now admitted at Arundel Mediclinic.
“He had excessive fluids in his lungs and was getting progressively worse. I understand some kind of surgical procedure has been performed. He’s not in a good shape, but he’s battling,” one person briefed on the minister’s condition said.
Mathema did not take part in the decision to re-open schools this week, criticised as an “ambush” by teachers’ unions and parents over the short notice given by the government.
Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 infections have gone down dramatically since June when schools were supposed to re-open for the second term. On Monday, there were 144 new infections detected and 15 deaths, according to the ministry of health.
