Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, is critically ill in a South African hospital
and his supporters should "brace for the worst", a party source
with knowledge of his condition said on Tuesday.
The 65-year-old has been in and out of hospital since
disclosing in June 2016 that he had colon cancer. He returned to
Johannesburg in neighbouring South Africa for his latest round
of treatment in early January.
"From the medical report that I received yesterday the
situation is not looking good. He is critically ill and we
should brace for the worst," the source said.
Tsvangirai's illness has divided his Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party, with officials publicly jockeying to succeed
the former trade union leader.
Last month, Tsvangirai said it was time for the older
generation to step back and make way for "new hands", raising
prospects of leadership change.
Without its founder at the helm, the MDC is likely to face
immediate instability and could even split, handing a gift to
new President Emmerson Mnangagwa in an election expected within
the next six months.
Mnangagwa came to power in November after a de facto
military coup against 93-year-old Robert Mugabe, the former
guerrilla leader who had run Zimbabwe since independence from
Britain in 1980.
Tsvangirai spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said the MDC leader
was "stable but the nation should keep on praying."