UDM leader negative for Covid-19 after 'cooking my own meals' in isolation

UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa has tested negative for Covid-19.

Holomisa announced on social media that he was informed by his doctor that the "SARS Coronavirus 2 RNA was not detected in this sample”. 

He was tested on Friday, the same day the on which the African Christian Democratic Party announced that its leader, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, and and chief whip, Steve Swart, had tested positive for Covid-19.

Holomisa was among those who attended a meeting convened by President Cyril Ramaphosa in parliament which Meshoe also attended.

Speaking to SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE from his home in Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, Holomisa said he would continue to isolate himself at home for at least another week. MPs have been declared an essential service under the lockdown regulations and are allowed to continue doing oversight work in communities.

Holomisa was tested in Queenstown while en route to his family home in Mthatha.

"I immediately called my wife and told them to leave the house and move to our rural home in Mqanduli before my arrival. I just asked them to leave me some groceries," he said, revealing that he had been cooking his own meals over the past few days.

Holomisa, whose house is near the N2 highway in Fort Gale, noted that there was a high level of compliance with ockdown regulations in the area.

He said the busy road was largely deserted over the past few days, and even trucks ferrying essential goods were few and far between.