‘My health has taken a turn for the worse’, says Niehaus after suspension notice

Embattled Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus says his health has taken a turn for the worse.

This after a notice of intention to suspend him from the ANC was leaked and he was approached by various media outlets for comment while he was still “fighting for his life”.

“The callousness of what had been done today to me by the media based on a confidential staff letter that had been maliciously leaked, while I’m still ill and fighting to overcome Covid-19 is unforgivable.

“My health has taken a turn for the worse. Awu! Ngaze ngaphoxeka kunina nonke [I am very disappointed in all of you],” said Niehaus on social media.

ALSO READ: Has Carl Niehaus outlived his usefulness for the Zuma/Magashule camp?

Responding to one of his followers who asked him if he wanted sympathy, Niehaus said all he wanted was “fairness”.

The callousness of what had been done today to me by the media based on a confidential staff letter that had been maliciously leaked, while I'm still ill & fighting to overcome COVID-19 is unforgivable. My health has taken a turn for the worse. Awu! Ngaze ngaphoxeka kunina nonke.

— Carl Niehaus (@niehaus_carl) January 19, 2021

Niehaus suspension notice comes after he penned a letter last week in which he informed South Africans he had been “gravely ill” with Covid-19 and also slammed those who were not kind to him – the media included.

His letter reads in part: “The past two weeks I have been ill with Covid-19. After I tested positive for Covid-19, I developed full-blown Covid-19 pneumonia and had to be urgently hospitalised. I ended up in Milpark Hospital ICU, where I was fighting for my life.

“I have taken a deliberate personal decision not to make it public at the time when I was very ill with Covid-19. I preferred to deal with my illness in private. I did so because I realised that there are those in our society who would, in hatred, have celebrated my illness, and even wanted me to die. At the time when I was gravely ill I did not want to deal with such viciousness.”

ALSO READ: Carl Niehaus set to be suspended from ANC for ‘misconduct’

He also accused ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte of attacking him when he was ill.

ANC general manager Febe Potgieter-Gqubule said in the letter to Niehaus that his statement “crosses all boundaries from an ANC employee, and particularly someone of your seniority”.

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