Zvobgo, the Member of Parliament for Masvingo South, was last week rushed to a South African hospital and is now in a private ward at Constantiaberg Clinic in Cape Town, relatives said.

The relatives said Zvobgo, a former close adviser of President Robert Mugabe until he fell out in the late 1980s, was not able to talk or walk when he left Zimbabwe.

Zvobgo was in Washington about three weeks ago where his condition deteriorated, friends told newzimbabwe.com yesterday.

"In fact he jokingly told us he would die and we will have to fly his body back to Zimbabwe," said a friend. "He seems to be confronting the illness but we are all very concerned."

The Standard spoke to Zvobgo, and in a hoarse and barely audible voice, the veteran politician could only say: "I am feeling much better now as compared to how I felt five days ago. That is all I can say right now."

Zvobgo's wife, Julia, who is also in Cape Town, said South African doctors had operated on the veteran politician who is suffering from an undisclosed ailment. Some relatives and aides said he might have a liver disease.

Staff at the Cape Town hospital on Friday confirmed that Zvobgo had arrived at the institution in a "worrying" condition.

"I have not been to his room this morning to see how he is doing but what I have noticed is that he looked much better than yesterday. I am going to dress him right now and I think he is going to be fine," said a nurse at the hospital.

Zvobgo was last seen publicly at Vice President Simon Muzenda's funeral last month, walking with the assistance of an aide supporting him by the arm.

He recently escaped a disciplinary hearing before Zanu PF's supreme Politburo to answer accusations that he had undermined Mugabe's re-election campaign last year.

Analysts though say the accusations against Zvobgo stemmed from fear in Zanu PF circles that he would one day challenge Mugabe.

As head of Parliament's legal committee, Zvobgo clashed with Information Minister Jonathan Moyo over the constitutionality of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).