Durban - National Freedom Party leader Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi conducted her first party meeting, in Pretoria, this weekend after she had been away for almost a year because of illness.
However, her spokesman, Canaan Mdletshe, said this did not mean she was back to full duties in the party and in her position as the deputy minister of science and technology.
KaMagwaza-Msibi had been scheduled to participate in a roadshow by the Zululand District Municipality, which took place in Pretoria on Sunday, but the National Intelligence Agency advised her that this would compromise her safety.
“The intelligence said it would not be in her best interest to participate. She then consulted the family and senior leaders of the party who agreed,” said Mdletshe.
Mdletshe said the municipality often conducted roadshows in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban to update community members of the district working in the cities about developments back home.
Instead of participating in the roadshow, KaMagwaza-Msibi held a private meeting with a number of traditional leaders, who are members of her party, in her official residence in Pretoria. Mdletshe said the traditional leaders, accompanied by members of the NFP’s national working committee, were desperate to see her for the first time since she fell ill in November. He said the meeting was informal and did not mean she was back in action.
“She has not fully recovered, but holding this meeting means she is on the right path to recovery.
“We are waiting for the doctors to give her permission to return to her full-time activities,” he said.
In the pictures of the meeting, which Mdletshe e-mailed to the media, KaMagwaza-Msibi looked a shadow of her former self.
“Her right arm still has a problem. It is the only part of the body that gives her a problem,” said Mdletshe.
KaMagwaza-Msibi collapsed at her home in Newcastle late last year. She was then admitted to MediClinic before being transferred to eThekwini Heart Hospital in Durban. In her absence there was bitter infighting in the party. It was a case of tit for tat as leaders took turns suspending each other, and provincial chairman Vikizitha Mlotshwa expelled 30 councillors from various provincial municipalities. The expelled councillors included members of the national working committee who were said to be KaMagwaza-Msibi protectors, and national executive committee leaders who were allegedly plotting to unseat her from leading the party.
Her husband, Madlala, Msibi previously said the family did not give details of her health as they feared that her enemies would attack her again. It is believed by some that she was a victim of witchcraft. Among working committee members who visited her at the weekend were Zululand mayor Mpiyakhe Hlatshwayo and Nongoma mayor Jeremiah Mavundla.
“Party deputy president Alex Kekana was supposed to be part of the visit, but he did not arrive. We don’t know the reason for his absence,” he said.
In a statement released after the visit, KaMagwaza-Msibi said: “I must admit that being away for such a long time has affected me in many ways, but there’s nothing I can do.
“I really miss being with the people, serving them, because that’s what I know best.”
The Mercury