The Deputy President like any other South African is entitled to choose his or her preferred medical practitioner. In recent past in Parliament, the Deputy President took South Africans into confidence about him taking ill and how he ended-up receiving lifesaving treatment from doctors in the Russian Federation.
It would thus be medically imprudent for anyone to abruptly abandon medical treatment by medical practitioners who are intimately au fait with one’s medical profile. Further details regarding the Deputy President’s consultations with the Surgeon-General can be obtained from the Office of the Surgeon-General, and the SA Military Health Service.
In instances where the Deputy President has had to postpone sessions for oral reply, such was communicated to the Presiding Officers of Parliament in accordance with Rule 144 (1) read together with Rule 11 (2). The Deputy President is fully competent to execute his responsibilities as delegated by the President.
-END-