Post date: Jul 05, 2013 6:26:11 PM
Nelson Mandela's friend Denis Goldberg says the former South African president was responsive during a visit to hospital.
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (JULY 1, 2013) (REUTERS) - Nelson Mandela's friend Denis Goldberg said on Friday (July 5) the former South African president had been responsive during his hospital visit.
Mr. Goldberg, who was a fellow anti-apartheid campaigner and was also imprisoned for 22 years, said Mandela was attentive during his visit on Monday (July 1)."When I went in, my hands, Graca Machel washed my hands with this disinfecting stuff. I had to wear a surgical gown and I greeted him, told him who I was. He opened his eyes, turned his head a little bit, showed that he was aware of me," Goldberg said in an interview in Cape Town.
"He certainly was responsive. Aware. He couldn't speak because he had a tube down his... into his lungs, through his larynx , vocal chords. But he was moving his mouth as though he was trying to speak. He was attentive," he added.
Mandela remained in a "critical but stable" condition after nearly four weeks in hospital, the government said on Thursday (July 4).
The anti-apartheid hero is receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection, his fourth hospitalisation in six months. The latest health update from the government followed a visit to the hospital by current President Jacob Zuma.
Goldberg dismissed claims that Mandela was in a vegetative state.
"Absolutely not. He looked like Nelson Mandela. A very ill man, I have to say. Clearly frail. I asked afterwards because of the media speculation about how long do the doctors go on intervening, and she said they were not prepared to switch off whatever assistance they give because there is no general organ failure. She said, in other words there is a possibility of recovery," he said.
"There have been frights. I am quite sure. Moments when they have been desperately worried and he's pull through again. What a fighter, what a fighter that man is," he added.
The failing health of the 94-year-old Mandela, a figure admired globally as a symbol of struggle against injustice and racism, has reinforced a realisation that the father of the post-apartheid South Africa will not be around forever.
While Mandela lies in hospital, a row over grave sites has split his family.
Two years ago, Mandela's grandson moved the bodies of three of Mandela's children from a family cemetery in Qunu, the village where Mandela spent most of his childhood, to the nearby village of Mvezo.
A High Court on Wednesday (July 3) ordered that the remains be exhumed and reburied in Qunu - an edict that was carried out on Wednesday night.
In a court affidavit filed last week, Mandela's eldest daughter, Makaziwe, argued for an urgent hearing, saying her father was in a "perilous" condition and breathing with the aid of life-support.