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Zimbabwe Opposition Officials Undergo Surgery in South Africa


Doctors at the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, performed emergency surgery Monday on a top official of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change after he fell ill during a visit there, MDC sources in Johannesburg said.

William Bango, spokesman for MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai, was the third official of the Zimbabwe opposition faction to undergo surgery at the Johannesburg hospital for injuries sustained while in police custody in Harare between March 11 and 13.

Former Zimbabwe member of parliament Roy Bennett, Johannesburg-based treasurer for the Tsvangirai faction, told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that tests showed Bango had sustained severe internal injuries.

The faction’s policy and research secretary, Sekai Holland, underwent further surgery for fractures of her left arm and left leg, sources said. Doctors who treated Holland in Zimbabwe said her condition had been made worse by denial of timely access to medical treatment, which led to an infection of deep soft tissue in her left leg.

Grace Kwinjeh, deputy secretary for international relations for the faction, underwent an operation Friday to treat a brain contusion and to repair a split right ear lobe, said sources in the political grouping. Both women were being treated for extensive and multiple soft tissue injuries to the back, shoulders, arms, buttocks and thighs.

Bennett said he fears others whom the faction alleges were severely beaten by police in Harare may be suffering from internal injuries or psychological trauma.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...

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