DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi left his country for the first time in years for a private visit to South Africa on Wednesday. Tshisekedi, a long-time foe of the late Mobutu Sese Seko, and now of his successor Laurent Desire-Kabila, heads the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. He had repeatedly been denied the right to leave the former Zaire under the Mobutu regime and susequently under Kabila himself in the renamed DRC. A source close to Tshisekedi said the visit is for health reasons.