Tsvangirai rushed to SA for another medical checkup

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai flew to South Africa on Sunday for medical checkup, and is expected to return home tomorrow.

He is undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with cancer of the colon.

While Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka was not immediately available for comment yesterday, a senior MDC official said he was undergoing "a routine regime of chemotherapy treatment".

Tsvangirai is known for working late and calling aides at all hours but his senior lieutenants have said his routine was now strictly controlled and his evenings involved only "bath, supper and bed".

Leader of the smaller MDC Welshman Ncube has said the veteran politician was fit to represent Zimbabwe's opposition alliance in the presidential election next year, his fourth time as a presidential candidate.

Responding to the BBC's Zeinab Badawi in a HARDtalk interview aired Wednesday if Tsvangirai was fit to lead  the coalition after he has been diagnosed with cancer of the colon, Ncube said from the interactions he had with the former prime minister, he did not see any health problems that could hinder his nomination.

"I have not gotten the impression that he is in any medical state which will hinder him leading the opposition coalition if that is our collective view that he should be the candidate to lead the coalition," the former MDC secretary-general said.

Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for "routine medical check-up", his third such visit there this year.

It's not clear when he will be back, but his scheduled youth interface rally at Somhlolo Stadium in Lupane tomorrow has been pushed forward.