Post date: Dec 25, 2012 1:35:31 PM
South Africans send well-wishes to former President Nelson Mandela on Christmas day as he recovers in hospital after undergoing surgery.
SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA (DECEMBER 25, 2012) (REUTERS) - South Africans prayed for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday (December 25) after the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero spent more than two weeks in hospital.
President Jacob Zuma went to visit Mandela in hospital on Christmas day and said in a statement the former president was looking much better and "in good spirits".The Nobel Peace laureate has been treated for a lung infection and gallstones after being hospitalised on December 8.
The Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Soweto, where much of the anti-apartheid battle was fought, held a special prayer for Mandela on Tuesday.
Reverend Nimrod Kekana led the congregation in prayer:
"Father we pray before you, our former president Dr Nelson Mandela. We pray in the name of Jesus that as the doctors are taking care of him and the families and the rest of the nation standing behind him with well wishes God we thank you for the life you have given in him. We thank you through the impact you have given through his life," said the Reverend as he prayed.
Outside the Mandela House Museum on Vilakazi street, the only street in the world to have housed two Nobel prize winners - Mandela and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both residents and tourists wished Mandela a speedy recovery.
"I just want to wish tata Madiba a very merry Christmas and we love you a lot, and we hope you will get well soon and God bless," said Florence Groener.
"May he live for many more years," said Timothy, a Soweto resident.
Mandela spent 27 years in apartheid prisons, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town. He was released in 1990 and went on to use his prestige to push for reconciliation between whites and blacks as the bedrock of the post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation".
He stepped down in 1999 after one term in office and has been largely removed from public life for the last decade.
Mandela spent time in a Johannesburg hospital in 2011 with a respiratory condition, and again in February this year because of abdominal pains. He was released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing serious.
He has since spent most of his time in Qunu.
His fragile health prevents him from making any public appearances in South Africa, although he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton in July.