ANC raises alarm over deputy president’s health

The party’s National Working Committee discussed Mabuza’s prolonged absence once he returned to South Africa following treatment in Russia for an unspecified ailment, the newspaper reported, citing people it didn’t identify.

The party may need to request access to his medical records to determine if he should continue in his role, the Sunday Times reported.

The official’s latest trip to Russia lasted over a month, during which South Africa suffered the worst unrest the country has seen in decades.

July’s week-long rampant looting and riots were triggered by the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma and claimed more than 350 lives.

Mabuza, 60, previously claimed to have been poisoned in 2015, and made his first visit to Russia then for specialist medical treatment, according to the Sunday Times. It 2018 he was named a special envoy to Russia.