Issued by Office of the Presidency
14 November 2000
In response to statements reported in the media with regard to the Presidential Medical Unit, The Presidency would like to issue the following statement:
1.1 The Presidency condemns the deliberate mis-representation of facts as an unnecessary attempt by the Leader of the Opposition to undermine the legitimacy of our democratically elected President and government. The statements belies the lack of concern on Mr Leon's part for the health and safety of the President.
1.2 As in any democracy, the medical health of the President is of paramount concern to the government and the citizenry and should not be compromised.
1.3 For the record, The Presidency would like to point out that The Presidential Medical Unit is a sub-unit of the South African Medical Health Service (SAMHS), an arm of the SANDF.
1.4 All members of this Unit are full-time employees of the SANDF and assigned by the SANDF in terms of its own objective criteria. Neither composition of or the personnel designated to this unit nor the unit's budget are determined by the Presidency or the political principals in The Presidency.
1.5 The President and the Deputy President have access to one paramedic and an ambulance driver/paramedic whenever they are travelling within the country and to a doctor when they travel abroad.
1.6 No doctors or paramedics are solely employed to address the health needs of the President.
1.7 The Presidency regrets that the issue of the safety and health services provided to the President and the Deputy President has now been turned into a party political issue for the purposes of electioneering, six months after being reported in Parliament without controversy.
1.8 The Presidency appeals to political parties to desist from misleading statements that are not in the long-term interests of democracy.
Reverend Frank Chikane Director General The Presidency For more information contact Nazeem Mahatey on 082 376 3820.
Issued by:
Communications Unit
The Presidency
Pretoria
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