JOHANNESBURG: Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is 94, continues to respond to treatment two weeks after being taken to hospital, the government said yesterday.
The Nobel Peace laureate, who has been treated for a lung infection and gallstones after being hospitalised on December 8, was visited by South African President Jacob Zuma, presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said.
“Madiba has been in hospital since the 8th of December and continues to respond to treatment,” Maharaj said, referring to Mandela by his clan name.
“President Zuma assured him of the love and support of all South Africans, young and old, and the whole world.”
The country’s first black president was admitted to hospital in Pretoria earlier this month after being flown from his home village of Qunu in a remote part of the Eastern Cape province.
It seems likely that Mandela, admired at home and abroad as a global icon against injustice for his lifetime of struggle against minority white rule, will end up spending Christmas in the hospital.
On Thursday, following his re-election as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Zuma reported Mandela had “steadily improved”.
Zuma said then the former president was receiving “the best care possible” but recalled that Mandela was “at an age where medical challenges require extraordinary care”.
Reuters
