CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Jacob Zuma was admitted to a hospital for tests on Saturday, and doctors are satisfied with his condition, his office said.
The announcement came two weeks after Zuma was inaugurated for a second five-year term following the election victory last month of the ruling African National Congress party.
“Yesterday President Zuma was advised to rest following a demanding election and transition program to the new administration,” his office said in a statement.
No further details were given.
In a separate statement on Friday, Zuma’s office said the president would take a few days off from public engagements while continuing to perform official duties from home.
South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, wished Zuma a quick recovery.
“We also await clarity on the condition of the President and whether the Deputy President has taken over his official duties,” the party said in a statement.
South Africa’s new deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said late last month that he was disinvesting from a major investment group that he founded to avoid any conflict of interest with his political position. Ramaphosa was a union leader during white rule, which ended in 1994 with the country’s first all-race elections.
Zuma, a former anti-apartheid activist, was inaugurated May 24 in a ceremony marked by dance, prayer, a 21-gun salute and air force flyovers. In a speech, he said South Africa was a better place to live in than it was in 1994 but that poverty, unemployment and other problems persist.
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