BULAWAYO – A South African man who became seriously ill while working in Bulawayo was on Monday airlifted back to his country after reportedly failing to receive some urgent medical attention he required in Zimbabwe.

The unnamed patient, according to a Limpopo Provincial Government X handle, was transported by ambulance from Bulawayo to the Beitbridge border town – a distance of over 280km – and then flown by helicopter to Limpopo.

The patient was received by Limpopo Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, and Health Member of the Executive Committee (MEC), Dieketseng Mashego.

Authorities in the South African province neighbouring Zimbabwe shared photos of the controversial Premier and MEC receiving the stretchered patient after “he could not receive necessary medical treatment when he fell ill in Bulawayo”.

However, questions have been raised on social media over the presence of the Limpopo Premier at the arrival of the patient.

Some wondered what was so special about the patient that the provincial leadership needed to be there.

Ramathuba came under fire in August 2022 she appeared in a viral video scolding a bedridden Zimbabwean woman who had sought treatment in a Limpopo hospital.

She accused the patient of being among foreigners who were “killing” the health system in South Africa by populating the neighbouring country’s hospitals for treatment.

Zimbabwean authorities were yet to publicly comment on the latest incident which spotlights the country’s dire healthcare system, ever burdened by a slew of challenges.

Prominent among the challenges is lack of critical medicine and equipment, the flight of experienced staff to seek better remuneration abroad, poor funding by government and general neglect by the Zanu PF led authority.

A lot of government officials and politicians, who include President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga, have flown out of the country to seek treatment elsewhere.

Former President Robert Mugabe, who presided over Zimbabwe’s health delivery system for nearly four decades, also died 2019 in a Singaporean hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for years.