| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa: Southern |
| Mugabe ’flown to South Africa after collapse’ |
| 2003-10-28 |
| Going, going ... President Robert Mugabe collapsed yesterday and was flown to South Africa for emergency medical treatment, sources in Zimbabwe said last night. Funny how the local medical system isn’t quite up to taking care of the glorious big guy. Supporters of Mr Mugabe, 79, were setting up barricades in the capital, Harare, manned by well-armed riot police. It was reported that senior members of the "Green Bombers", the notorious youth brigades created by Mr Mugabe and responsible for rape, murder and political thuggery, were being flown to the city. Flown to the city? I thought they didn’t have fuel! Any transition of power in Zimbabwe would probably be violent as Mr Mugabe’s successors in the ruling Zanu-PF party would clash with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Ya think? Sources in Zimbabwe said Mr Mugabe was taken ill late on Sunday and vomited throughout the night, then collapsed yesterday. He was flown by military aircraft to the Waterkloof air base, a South African military airport near Pretoria, and driven to a clinic for treatment, they said. If he been treated in Zimbabwe, Perhaps Nelson Mandela can whisper in his ear. Mr Mugabe’s illness is expected to intensify jockeying in the Zanu-PF for the succession. The death last month of Vice-President, Simon Muzenda, 81, a staunch Mugabe supporter, has already sparked attempts by various factions in the party to secure the vice-presidency. 81? Old codger wouldn’t have lasted long enough to steal the keys from Grace anyways. Supporters of the regime sought to play down the seriousness of Mr Mugabe’s Just like Arafat. Maybe there’s been an epidemic of ’gallstones’. Rumours of ill-health, strokes and death have been part of Mugabe’s regime in recent years. After 23 years in power, he has appeared increasingly frail in recent months, although he has also shown remarkable stamina. That sentence makes no sense. He’s 79 and he has to step on a banana peel at some point. Why not today? |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #20 The short story is that every airport and hospital in South Africa say they haven't seen Bob. The S.A. Gov't isn't going to say squat about Mugabe, partly because they're concerned about refugees if and when a civil war comes, and partly because the ANC still runs the S.A. government. They aren't going to abandon a fellow 'African nationalist' and his movement, no matter how odious. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-10-28 9:59:58 PM |
| #19 so bobby is MIA. heh heh. |
| Posted by: B 2003-10-28 3:13:40 PM |
| #18 800? Holy shit! How did Santee fare? I know folks there and up in San Marcos and in another area well east from the coast in the mountains - dunno what it's called in that vicinity - horse farm country. [sorry for asking personal questions, folks] |
| Posted by: .com 2003-10-28 1:59:51 PM |
| #17 it's pretty bad, still - 208,000 acres burned and 800 homes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-28 1:32:46 PM |
| #16 FrankG - Congrats!!! Glad to hear you weathered the firestorm successfully!!! Hard to picture Sammy Dago hills denuded by fire... |
| Posted by: .com 2003-10-28 1:15:49 PM |
| #15 ..Actually, the nicest way for me to imagine Bob shuffling off this mortal coil is him being just alert enough to realize when Gracie and the boys come in to put a pillow over his face....but not being able to do anything about it. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2003-10-28 12:24:26 PM |
| #14 "These rumours are all wishful thinking," Zimbabwe's envoy to South Africa, Simon Khaya-Moyo, told Reuters. Soem very odd phrasing for an envoy. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-28 11:06:11 AM |
| #13 I hope this fuck dies in a slow and very painful way. I wish agony upon him. So painful that he can't even muster the strength to wail. Do I sound angry and fed up with these dictators? |
| Posted by: Dr J 2003-10-28 10:15:08 AM |
| #12 ...and everybody thought "tyrant" was such an easy gig. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-10-28 9:48:31 AM |
| #11 There seems to be more than a little confusion as to exactly what's up with Bob: According to media reports in South Africa, Mugabe is in a ward in a hospital in Gauteng, coalenscing after a stroke. According to the Zimbabwean government, their president is at work in Harare, where he this morning chaired a cabinet meeting. However, no one could confirm that they had actually seen the president. 702 Talk Radio reported yesterday that Mugabe was in South Africa for treatment, reports Sapa. A reporter at 702 said that the story originated from a source, and that it was not known at which hospital Mugabe was supposed to be. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa told Sapa last night: "At this stage we have no knowledge of this development. In our interaction with the Zimbabwean authorities, they denied any knowledge thereof." In Harare, the speculation seems to be fuelled by the fact that Mugabe has not been seen in public for some time. However senior SA government officials today again denied knowledge that Mugabe was here and Zimbabwe's High Commissioner to SA, Simon Moyo, said the reports were "absolute hogwash". This morning, Independent Foreign Service correspondent Brian Latham said from Harare that the regular, weekly Zimbabwe cabinet meeting was due to start at 10.30 am. Reporters would monitor it to see if Mugabe appeared. Phoning back just after 10.30am, Latham said he had seen Mugabe's motorcade arrive outside the offices in central Harare where the meeting would be held. Unfortunately his view was restricted and he had not been able to see who got out of the vehicles. Soon after this, Sapa reported that Zimbabwe High Commissioner Moyo said Mugabe was in good health and was chairing the cabinet meeting in Harare this morning. Media reports that the president was admitted to a South African hospital for medical treatment were nothing but "wishful thinking", he told Sapa in Pretoria. "He (Mugabe) is chairing a cabinet meeting as we speak," Moyo said. "There is nothing wrong with his health." Asked where he got this information from, the high commissioner said: "I am his representative here. I am in touch with home every minute". This morning, Deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad, deputy director for Africa in the Department of Foreign Affairs Kingsley Mamabolo, presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo and Defence Ministry spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi all said they did not know of Mugabe being in a South African hospital. Mkhwanazi said Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota also knew nothing about the reports. He said he had spoken to Lekota yesterday when the reports first surfaced. The speculation in Harare was that Mugabe was being treated in a South African military hospital but today Major Niko Allie, spokesperson for SA Military Health Services, said Mugabe was not being treated in any military hospital in South Africa. Some observers believe speculation may have been prompted by the fact that former Zimbabwean cabinet minister Edison Zvobgo, who is still a member of the ruling Zanu PF central committee member but now sidelined by Mugabe, is seriously ill in a hospital in Cape Town. The Star's reporters checked airports and hospitals to see if they could find any trace of Mugabe in South Africa this morning. The short story is that every airport and hospital in South Africa say they haven't seen Bob. But nobody that can be trusted has seen him either. As they say, developing. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-28 9:42:40 AM |
| #10 Music to our ears! Wifey and I have very good friends in Zim - could leave if they wanted to but its their country and they stand by it through Mugabe and his ilk. This may be the end but I doubt it - according to our friends their are dozens even sicker who will take over only if the strong outside powers give the other guys a weak signal of support. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2003-10-28 9:37:57 AM |
| #9 Glad to hear the good news about your home Frank G. As for Mugabe... " Turn up the Death Ray to 4! " |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-10-28 9:36:50 AM |
| #8 update: JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - It is all "wishful thinking", in the words of one senior Zimbabwean diplomat. South African and British media reports on Tuesday said Zimbabwe's 79-year-old President Robert Mugabe had been secretly flown to South Africa for treatment after suffering either a stroke or a bad fall. Diplomats reported hearing that he was in a military hospital. Security analysts said they had been told he was flown in by South African air force pilots. South Africa fuelled the speculation by initially saying only that it was "unaware" of Mugabe's whereabouts. On Tuesday, officials from both countries acted to quash suggestions that the leader of Zimbabwe -- itself in grave economic and political decline -- was at death's door. "These rumours are all wishful thinking," Zimbabwe's envoy to South Africa, Simon Khaya-Moyo, told Reuters. "President Mugabe is in good health and he is attending to his official engagements, including chairing today's cabinet meeting." nothing to see here - go about your |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-28 9:34:57 AM |
| #7 makes my day - I'm baaaacccckkk home still standing, reeks of smoke, and power just went on at 5AM after being out since sunday - being evacuated sucks, but you learn th eimportant things in life: family, home, photos, and Bob Mugabe suffering a long painful spiral to hell |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-28 9:14:21 AM |
| #6 ...and there was much rejoicing. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2003-10-28 7:52:19 AM |
| #5 Life for him should be a terminal disease. I wish him a speedy cure. dorf |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-10-28 7:49:13 AM |
| #4 Remove the feeding tube. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-28 7:38:15 AM |
| #3 We pray for a speedy dispatch for this ogre -- but regret he did not get the ending he deserves, swinging at the end of a rope! |
| Posted by: Nik Karanikos 2003-10-28 6:09:10 AM |
| #2 May all the pain he has caused be visited on him in his final days. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-10-28 5:13:23 AM |
| #1 If this POS cops it, I'll raise a glass to send him on his journeys through hell. I did the same for Idi Amin as well (waiting for Arafat, Kimmie and a few others though). |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2003-10-28 2:41:12 AM |