By Baldwin Ndaba and Anna Cox
Former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Doctor Khumalo seems to have made a remarkable recovery from an illness that kept him away from court earlier this week.
Snappily dressed in black pants and a black and white striped shirt, the football legend, most famous for his role in helping the country win the Africa Nations Cup in 1996, seemed to be in good health on Thursday when he appeared as a guest at the Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality monthly meeting to celebrate because Bafana Bafana would stay in the area during the World Cup.
Two days earlier, Khumalo had failed to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court where he is accused of drunken and negligent driving, citing ill-health.
The prosecutor, Victor Machobane, had already lined up a number of witnesses to testify against Khumalo when his legal counsel, Johan Pretorius, informed the court that his client had been booked off sick for the rest of the week.
When asked on Thursday about his illness, Khumalo said he did not want to talk about his sickness. "Please respect my privacy... or I will take it further," he said.
A sick note submitted to court on Tuesday showed Khumalo had gone to Dr Andreas Siebold in Forest Town on Friday last week. Siebold found that Khumalo was suffering from periodontal gum diseases and implants in the upper jaw. The doctor booked him off until on Friday.
If it emerges in court that Khumalo had addressed a function during the period when he was due in court, the prosecution could ask the court to charge him for contempt.