President Jacob Zuma arrives at the FNB Stadium in Soweto filled to capacity at the final ANC campaign rally.
“He was admitted to a hospital here in Pretoria,” his spokesperson Mac Maharaj told Sapa. “We prefer not to disclose the name of the hospital for privacy reasons.”
He said Zuma was advised to rest following a demanding election and transition programme to the new administration.
“President Jacob Zuma has been admitted to hospital for tests. “Doctors are satisfied with his condition,” he said.
On Friday, the ANC leadership ordered Zuma to take a break. “Following a gruelling election campaign we found that he needed to rest,” the deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa said at the Nehawu special congress in Benoni, on the East Rand.
“He attended the NEC lekgotla this morning, and was thereafter sent packing to go and rest.”
Zuma was scheduled to address the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union congress, but sent Ramaphosa to deliver his speech.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters at the ruling party’s lekgotla in Irene, outside Pretoria that the president was exhausted. He said Zuma was given time to recover before he held a Cabinet lekgotla next week.
The opposition Democratic Alliance wished Zuma a speedy recovery.
“We also await clarity on the condition of the president and whether the deputy president has taken over his official duties,” DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said in a statement. – Sapa