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Zimbabwe's vice president is being treated in a South African hospital for the effects of a bomb blast targeting Zanu-PF leaders in June, a state newspaper is reporting.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is also receiving treatment for an old war wound, presidential spokesperson George Charamba was quoted as saying by Herald.
The paper said that Chiwenga had "soldiered on" in the wake of the grenade attack on President Emmerson Mnangagwa's rally in Bulawayo. Chiwenga was not previously reported to have been injured in the blast, which killed two security aides and injured dozens of others, including Chiwenga’s wife Mary.
State TV at the time showed him in apparent good health, visiting the injured in hospital in Bulawayo alongside Mnangagwa.
Fell sick before cabinet meeting
Charamba said Mary Chiwenga was also receiving treatment in South Africa, but he denied social media reports in Zimbabwe that Chiwenga was in bad shape.
"The review has been done both for the general and his wife. The President has been constantly talking to the couple on a daily basis," Charamba told the Herald.
He added that Chiwenga had "historical" health problems relating to a bullet wound he received during the country's independence war. He said the couple would return to Zimbabwe this week.
Chiwenga was until last November the commander of the defence forces. He led the military operation that forced former president Robert Mugabe to step down.
The private NewsDay reported on Monday that Chiwenga had to be airlifted to South Africa last week. The paper, citing ruling party sources, said the vice president had fallen sick ahead of a cabinet meeting on October 2.
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