NFP has not heard from Magwaza-Msibi since she took ill
None of the NFP's top officials have spoken to their leader, Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, since she took ill in November, it emerged on Wednesday.
But the opposition National Freedom Party's top structures insisted at a media conference in Durban that she was doing well.
National secretary Professor Nhlanhla Khubisa said that kaMagwaza-Msibi, who is also the country's deputy minister of science and technology, was recovering from "fatigue and depression".
When asked if he personally had spoken to her since she took ill on November 16, Khubisa admitted he had not.
It also emerged that other participants at the press conference -- the party's national chairman Maliyakhe Shelembe, deputy president Alex Kekana, national executive member Munzoor Shaik-Emam, NFP Youth Movement president Sibusiso Mncwabe and the NFP Women's Movement president Sindi Mashinini -- had not spoken to kaMagwaza-Msibi.
Khubisa said that all interaction had been with her husband Mandla Msibi and through him the party had been informed that she was getting better.
"She will join us the moment she is fit," said Khubisa. "He's [Mandla Msibi] very positive."
No-one at the press conference would be drawn on when KaMagwaza-Msibi would return to work.
However, Canaan Mdletshe, who is her spokesman in her capacity as deputy minister, told Sapa afterwards: "I have seen her and I have spoken to her. We are expecting her to make a public appearance in February."
Asked if KaMagwaza-Msibi had suffered a stroke or not, Mdletshe replied: "No comment."
The Newcastle Advertiser reported last November that KaMagwaza-Msibi was admitted to the intensive care unit of Mediclinic Newcastle on November 16 before being transferred to the ICU of the eThekwini Hospital.
The Witness newspaper reported at the time that she had suffered a stroke, but this has never been officially confirmed.
(File photo: Gallo Images)