/ 14 June 2014

Zuma heads back to work

Face value: President Jacob Zuma has promised radical transformation by making a year of preschool compulsory
Face value: President Jacob Zuma has promised radical transformation by making a year of preschool compulsory

“The president has been working from home and his first public engagement will be the State of the Nation address in Parliament on Tuesday,” said spokesperson Mac Maharaj on Saturday, referring to a statement issued by the presidency on Friday.

Zuma will attend the State of the Nation debate on Wednesday and Thursday, and respond to the debate on Friday.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the New Age/SABC business breakfast session on Wednesday, while ministers and deputy ministers are to participate in media interviews in various languages to unpack the State of the Nation for the public, said Maharaj.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has been standing in for Zuma at various events over the past week, including a three-day Cabinet lekgotla in Pretoria and Epainette Mbeki’s funeral on Saturday, and will deliver the main address at the national youth day celebration in Kimberley on June 16.

Zuma was discharged from a Pretoria hospital on Sunday after spending a night there. 

The presidency said Zuma (72) undergoes two major medical examinations each year, the first in January and the second in June. For the most recent medical examination, the doctors felt he needed to be hospitalised for a “thorough check up following a demanding schedule”, the presidency said.

“The doctors did extensive tests and are satisfied with the results. He’s back home and he’s working,” Maharaj said after Zuma had been discharged. 

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said the ANC’s election campaign had been punishing and all senior members of the party would take time off one after another to “re-energise”. – Sapa, additional reporting by M&G Reporter