Post date: Jan 27, 2011 6:39:23 PM
Fears grow for the health of Nelson Mandela after the 92-year-old spends the night in hospital.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE - MAY 2, 1994) SABC - Former South African President Nelson Mandela was hospitalised overnight for routine medical tests, reviving concern over the health of the frail 92-year-old anti-apartheid icon.
Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital on Wednesday (January 26) for what his foundation described as routine tests, but Talk Radio 702 reported that he had been seen by a specialist pulmonologist, who treats respiratory systems.President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress appealed for calm on Thursday (January 27) after the hospitalisation set off considerable speculation in local media about Mandela's health.
Mandela was likely to stay in hospital for a few more days, local media reported.
Mandela has not been seen in public since the soccer World Cup final in July last year.
Police were called in to control traffic at the Milpark Hospital in a leafy Johannesburg suburb as scores of journalists, photographers and television crews converged on it.
Several members of Mandela's family, including his wife Graca Machel, visited the hospital after his admission, Reuters witnesses said.
Mandela retired from public life in June 2004 before his 86th birthday. Since then he has rarely appeared in public and when he did, he appeared increasingly frail. In addition to the World Cup, Mandela appeared at a couple of ANC rallies before general elections in 2009.
Mandela was treated in the 1980s for tuberculosis and later had an operation to repair damage to his eyes. In 2001 he had treatment for prostate cancer.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation declined to comment on his health on Thursday.