CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Zimbabweans gathered outside a hospital in Cape Town on Monday, demanding that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga – reported to be receiving treatment at the facility – return home and receive his treatment there.
The provincial health department for the Western Cape however denied Chiwenga was at the Groote Schuur Hospital, amid internet claims that he had either been moved or was being treated in another hospital within the same grounds after his presence became known last Saturday.
“In honour of our commitment to patient confidentiality, we cannot discuss patient details. However, we can confirm he was not or currently is an impatient at the hospital,” said Alaric Jacobs, the principal communications officer of the Western Cape government’s health department.
Dozens of flag-waving Zimbabweans massed outside the hospital, singing and denouncing Chiwenga whose tough handling of strikes by nurses and doctors has given him the reputation of a tyrant.
Some of the banners being paraded said: ‘Pliz send Chiwenga back to Zimbabwe’; ‘Guvheya still killing Zimbabweans’ and ‘You fired medical staff in Zimbabwe, now you seek medicals in foreign land Mr Kiriniki.’
The Zimbabwe government has not commented on Chiwenga’s health and whereabouts, creating an information vacuum. The Vice President has been fidgety and sweaty during recent appearances, while the top of his hands have been bandaged in what doctors say is an indication of ongoing treatment with injections. He has previously stated that he was poisoned, which had caused him to lose his skin pigmentation along with his wife, Mary.
Hailed as a hero by some when he led a military coup that ousted former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, the pursuit of an apparently ailing Chiwenga by Zimbabweans in South Africa marks a remarkable fall from grace for the former general.
The military is back on the streets, this time targeting civilians as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government seeks to contain growing unrest over the state of the economy. At least 16 people have been killed, according to rights groups, since fuel protests on January 14 which were violently suppressed by the military and police.
Chiwenga, who has been in and out of hospital, is reported to have been taken ill after attending a Zanu PF politburo meeting in Harare on Wednesday. He was subsequently flown to South Africa, but his whereabouts are now the subject of speculation.
Some reports claim the 63-year-old is in fact admitted to the Netcare UCT Private Academic Hospital, which is in the same grounds as Groote Schuur.
It has been difficult to verify the information because Zimbabwean officials have so far swatted away questions.
Chiwenga was also missing last Saturday when Mnangagwa skipped his first political rally since last month’s deadly military crackdown on protests.
Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba, in a statement, said the president was spending the day briefing regional leaders. Mnangagwa earlier in the week blamed Western countries for backing the unrest, a favourite line of his former mentor Mugabe.
Mnangagwa was ready to go to the rally in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central, but suddenly pulled out, according to several accounts. His motorcade was later seen driving to Kwekwe at around 3PM.
At the rally in a ruling party stronghold, some people started walking out after it was announced the president would not show. There was no word on Chiwenga.
Top officials present had gloomy faces, while Vice President Kembo Mohadi, who stood in for Mnangagwa, told the subdued crowd that Zimbabwe’s worsening economic condition was due to the “work of the enemy.”
The top officials clapped but the crowd remained muted as the vice president promised good times ahead and described the crisis as short-term and like “mere labour pains.”
Additional reporting Farai Mutsaka, Associated Press
