Ailing MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was on Wednesday flown to South Africa for urgent medical attention as his failing health begins to cause panic in his 18-year-old opposition party.

According to a report in the independent Daily News Tsvangirai boarded the South African Airways flight on Wednesday afternoon, in the company of his wife, Elizabeth.

MDC insiders said while the former prime minister was walking on his own, he looked sickly and pale.

Meanwhile, MDC leader, Welshman Ncube has insisted MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is the MDC Alliance presidential candidate despite battling ill heath, adding discussion surrounding the latter’s health status is unwarranted.

Tsvangirai was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016. Tsvangirai said at the time:

“I was shocked, because I didn’t feel anything. I was not aware of this condition. In fact, I was busy active with political programmes until my wife (Elizabeth Macheka) said you have to stop because you don’t look healthy.

“That is when I went for this diagnosis, only to find the extent of the tumour in the colon. You start off by shock and then you take it in strides, you go through the treatment, you go through the operation.

“I was diagnosed with cancer on May 17. I went to visit my doctor for a number of health checks. He is the one who said I need to be tested out of his own diagnosis and when I was then checked they diagnosed that I had a tumour in my colon. That is the cancer,” he said.

“I did not believe it at first and when I went to South Africa; the doctor expressed the fact that we needed to operate and I was operated on, removing part of the tumour.

“They suggested that I should go on a programme of chemotherapy which has been administered to me for the last four sessions. I have been responding very well to treatment as you can see. I have said that whatever it is I will go through and I will confront it without any fear”

“One of the things that happen with diagnosis of cancer is first the shock is almost like inevitable death. People conclude that because it’s cancer therefore it’s death.

“That’s the reaction from my wife, my family members, my daughters, my children and everyone. They see the inevitable death. Fortunately for me, I took it calmly. It’s probably the stage that one has to accept the status without panicking,” said Tsvangirai in October 2016. Nehanda