Zimbabwean Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly been airlifted to South Africa, following reports over the weekend that he was "poisoned" at a rally in Gwanda.

A News Day report on Monday quoted a well-placed source as saying that Mnangagwa was taken out of the country in the company of his wife Auxillia.

"He is now out of the country to seek further medical attention following (the poisoning). I can’t tell you more," the source was quoted as saying.

Mnangagwa’s health was said to have deteriorated on Sunday.

This came after reports on Saturday said that the deputy president was rushed to a hospital in Gweru after he started vomiting while attending President Robert Mugabe's rally in Gwanda.

According to New Zimbabwe.com, unverified sources claimed that the embattled deputy president was poisoned, adding that he suffered an "adverse reaction after drinking a milkshake served at the event".

'Public humiliation'

"The vice president walked off stage some 45 minutes into Mugabe's address and got into an ambulance amid claims that he was vomiting," the report said.

Meanwhile, the Standard said that the vice president was in a "bad shape".

Mnangagwa last week reportedly offered to resign over what he called repeated "public humiliation" by Mugabe's wife Grace.

According to sources, Mnangagwa believed there was a plot against him by the system to kick him out.

The First Lady had previously told the country's two vice presidents - Mnangangwa and Phelekezela Mphoko -  at a campaign rally in Chinhoyi that they were serving at her husband's will.

Grace warned the two deputies that they risked losing their jobs if they did not perform to the expectations of her husband.

A few days earlier, the First lady had publicly urged her ageing husband to name his successor.