Transport Minister Dullah Omar was still in a critical condition at Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic in Cape Town by late Thursday.
Medi-Clinic manager Clive Lake said: ”The minister is still critical and he has been in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] for the past 48 hours.”
Lake said Omar’s family had been with him throughout. Omar has been receiving treatment for Hodgkins-Classic, a form of cancer of the lymph node, diagnosed last January, but was rushed to hospital on Tuesday with respiratory problems.
President Thabo Mbeki and former president Nelson Mandela wished Omar well on Thursday.
Canvassing for the African National Congress in North West, Mbeki said he had been keeping in touch with the Omar family, and his wife, Zanele Mbeki, was with Omar and his wife, Farida.
Mbeki said: ”I’ll be seeing him [Omar] tomorrow. It’s been a heavy day because of this. He is a good man and he is a very good minister.”
Mandela, who has himself received treatment for prostate cancer, said on Thursday he had been in touch with the family and hoped Omar would recover.
”Dullah Omar has rendered wonderful service [to the people of South Africa],” Mandela said in Soweto, where he was attending the launch of the ”Joe Slovo election trail” against the exploitation of workers.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions sent a message saying: ”He has been a great servant of his country and the liberation struggle for many years.
”We hope that he can overcome this new challenge and stay with us to celebrate our 10 years of democracy, in which he played a leading role both before and after 1994.
”Workers are especially grateful for his courage and determination to overcome all obstacles in the path of our struggle for freedom and democracy,” Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said.
Transport department spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said: ”It is taking its toll but Mrs Omar has been a pillar of strength and the family is getting a lot of support and really appreciate all the messages, and especially welcome all the prayers.”
However, Mabaya said that even though Omar was ill, he was still a source of strength to others. ”You gain strength from his own struggle with cancer.”
Mabaya said that even while Omar was unwell, and Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe was standing in for him, he had kept in touch with his portfolio. – Sapa