Zuma admitted to hospital after Umsinga campaign trail, MK Party source says

Former president Jacob Zuma has been admitted to hospital after a campaign trail appearance in Umsinga in northern KwaZulu-Natal, according to a senior source inside the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

As the Mail & Guardian reported on 7 October, the party insider said Zuma, who is 85, had been on the campaign trail in Umsinga the previous day. The source pointed to the heat in the area as a possible factor but said the reason for the admission was not clear.

The Enquirer has not been able to independently confirm the admission, and no party or family statement had been issued at the time of writing. MK Party spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu did not respond to calls from the Mail & Guardian, and the party had not commented publicly on Wednesday.

Zuma has been a fixture on the campaign trail since the formation of the MK Party ahead of the 2024 general election. In that election the party won 58 seats in the National Assembly, taking 14,58% of the national vote, and it has since become the official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal. Its support is concentrated in the province, where Zuma remains its most recognisable figure and where his public appearances are treated by the party as its main draw.

An admission to hospital for a man of Zuma’s age is a private medical matter, and no clinical detail has been released. What is publicly known is limited to the account of one party source. That account has not been corroborated by the party, by Zuma’s office or by the hospital.

Umsinga sits in the Umzinyathi district, one of the hotter and more remote parts of KwaZulu-Natal. Campaigning there involves long days on the road and outdoor gatherings, which place a physical strain on any candidate, and more so on one in his late eighties.

Zuma’s health has been a recurring subject of public interest since his presidency. In 2021 he was granted medical parole while serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, a decision that was later set aside by the courts. In 2023 he was treated in hospital and later said he had been seriously ill. Each of those episodes produced the same pattern: a brief confirmation of an admission, followed by long stretches in which neither the party nor the family said more.

For ordinary South Africans, the practical question is what happens to the MK Party’s campaign schedule. Zuma has been the party’s principal public figure in KwaZulu-Natal, and his presence at events is a large part of why they draw crowds. If he is unable to appear, the party will have to decide how it presents itself in the province without him on stage, and it has not said how it intends to do so.

This is a developing story. The Enquirer will report further detail if the party, the family or the hospital releases it.

Source: Mail & Guardian, Former president Jacob Zuma admitted to hospital