Post date: Jun 08, 2013 2:49:57 PM
Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was in a "serious but stable" condition after being admitted to hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection, says Presidency.
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 08, 2013) (REUTERS) - Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandelawas in a "serious but stable" condition on Saturday (June 8) after being taken to hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection, the government said.
The 94-year-old, who became the first black leader of Africa's biggest economy in 1994 after historic all-race elections, has been in hospital three times since December. He has been battling the infection for several days, a statement said."During the past few days former President Nelson Mandela, had had a recurrence of lung infection and he was receiving treatment by the doctors at home but in the early hours of the morning, about 1:30 (23:30GMT) South African time, his condition deteriorated to the point where it was found necessary to hospitalise him. He is in a hospital in Pretoria now. The doctors report as at this morning that his condition is serious but he is stable," said presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj.
However, the government's choice of words, in particular the use of "serious", is clear cause for concern to South Africa's 53 million people, for whom Mandela remains a potent symbol of the struggle against decades of white-minority rule.
Maharaj added that Mandela was breathing on his own.
"It's a lung infection, pneumonia it affects all sorts of things including breathing, what i am told by doctors is that he is breathing on his own and i think that is positive sign," he said.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate stepped down as president in 1999 after one term in office and has been removed from politics for a decade. His last appearance in public was at the final of the soccer World Cup in Johannesburg in 2010.
He appeared in a brief television clip aired by state television in April during a visit to his home by President Jacob Zuma.
At the time, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) assured the public Mandela was "in good shape", although the footage showed a thin and frail old man sitting expressionless in an armchair with his head propped against a pillow.
Since his withdrawal from public life, he has divided his time between his plushJohannesburg home and Qunu, the village in the impoverished Eastern Capewhere he was born and spent his early years.
Mandela spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones. But Maharaj says Nelson Mandela is a fighter.
"It was being treated, but the doctors felt, "no", its serious, let's get him to hospital, they are reporting, the truth of the matter is a simple one, Madiba is a fighter and at his age, as long as he is fighting he will be fine," he said.
That was his longest stay in hospital since his release from prison in 1990 after serving almost three decades behind bars or on the Robben Island prison camp near Cape Town for conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government.
His history of lung problems dates back to his years on Robben Island, where he contracted tuberculosis.