Maputo — The mayor of Beira, and leader of Mozambique’s second largest opposition party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Daviz Simango, was evacuated to South Africa on Saturday night for health reasons.
His brother, Lutero Simango, leader of the MDM parliamentary group, told AIM on Monday that the doctors treating the party leader describe his clinical condition as “stable”.
Last week, Simango’s wife tested positive for the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease, but when Simango himself was tested, the result came back negative.
Nonetheless, his health problems seem connected with the coronavirus. Lutero Simango said his brother was having trouble breathing. He was suffering from “respiratory insufficiency”, and so it was thought advisable to send him to South Africa for further treatment.
The Mayor had been feeling ill for about a week. He was being treated in Beira, but his condition deteriorated markedly on Friday. Although he appeared to be improving on Saturday afternoon, the family decided “as a measure of precaution” to transfer him to a clinic in South Africa.
Lutero Simango thanked the Beira health professionals who had been treating his brother right up to the moments before he boarded the plane.
He appealed for calm and promised to keep the Mozambican public informed about the state of his brother’s health.