By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Deputy President David Mabuza is back in the country after his trip to Russia where he sought medical treatment.
Mabuza in June requested two weeks’ medical leave from President Cyril Ramaphosa, but ended up spending more than a month in Russia. He landed on Wednesday amid a litany of concerns from the country’s citizens and political parties about his continued absence from his duties.
DA shadow minister Solly Malatsi said, now that Mabuza is back and in good health, “he and his office should provide transparency on the details of the trip.”
The DA is questioning the deputy president statement in which he claimed to have paid for the trips himself, therefore, the party is now requesting “receipts and proof” for the trips.
“In the interest of openness and transparency, the deputy president must provide receipts and proof that he paid out of his own pocket for this trip.”
Malatsi said the Democratic Alliance won’t just “merely take” the deputy president word for it, “given the ANC government’s love for luxury on the taxpayer’s account. He said Mabuza is entitled to his privacy, however, the cost “is very much the public’s concern”.
“If there is nothing to hide, the Deputy President would share the details of his trip without hesitation. The public should know how much has been spent on Mabuza’s Russia trips and whether it has been on the account of the taxpayer”.
Malatsi said the public has a right to know if Mabuza’s trips to Russia “have been funded by them”. Malatsi also questioned Mabuza’s previous trips to Russia in 2015 and 2018, saying there has “been very little transparency over the years”.
- In 2015, Mabuza travelled to Russia for medical treatment after he was allegedly poisoned
- Mabuza also travelled to Russia in 2018, again for medical treatment
In 2018, Mabuza at a National Council of Provinces for a question-and-answer session said he was “too ill to recall” who accompanied him on the trip. He said he was “on very high pain medication.”
Mabuza has been receiving medical treatment since his alleged poisoning in 2015 during a birthday celebration while he was still the premier of Mpumalanga.
It was said at the time that the poison was so advanced that it eluded local medical practitioners and he was referred to Russia by his then close allies.
Since then Mabuza has been receiving his medical treatment in Russia, with this being his most recent visit.
He said he prefers treatment from Russian doctors as “they’ve got medical history of my illness, so it’s only appropriate to go to people who know what went wrong with my body.
Meanwhile the debate about whether Mabuza is medically fit to hold office has reached to the top of the ANC, with some members of the national working committee (NWC) questioning if he should continue in his post.
The party may need to request access to his medical records to determine if he should continue in his role.
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.