{{Nelson Mandela is on life support, unable to breathe on his own, an elder in the South African icon\u2019s clan said on Wednesday, all but extinguishing hopes for the Anti-apartheid hero\u2019s recovery. }} <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, he is using machines to breathe,\u201d Napilisi Mandela told media after visiting the much-loved 94 year old\u2019s bedside. \u201cIt is bad, but what can we do,\u201d added the elder who usually presides over family rituals and meetings.<\/p>\n
President Jacob Zuma late Wednesday abruptly cancelled a trip to neighbouring Mozambique after he too visited Mandela\u2019s Pretoria hospital, where he \u201cfound him to be still in a critical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is the first time Zuma has scrapped a public engagement since Mandela was hospitalised nearly three weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Zuma was briefed by the doctors who are still doing everything they can to ensure his well-being,\u201d a statement from the presidency said.<\/p>\n
Twenty-hours earlier Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba had visited the Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pray with wife Graca Machel \u201cat this hard time of watching and waiting\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrant Madiba eternal healing and relief from pain and suffering,\u201d the prayer said. \u201cGrant him, we pray\u2026a peaceful, perfect, end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside the hospital emotional crowds have gathered to hold a candlelight vigil, to offer their own prayers and remember the life of one of the last remaining giants of 20th century history.<\/p>\n
Supporters sang hymns for the father of South African democracy and the architect of remarkable transition from almost half a century of white minority rule to landmark multiracial elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been so united \u2013 blacks and whites together. That\u2019s the thought of Mandela in us,\u201d said Lerato Boulares, 35.<\/p>\n
With his life seemingly slipping away, messages of support for the former president blanketed a wall outside the hospital, including a poster bearing one of his most memorable quotes: \u201cIt only seems impossible until it\u2019s done\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mandela\u2019s lung troubles date from his 27 years locked up on the notorious Robben Island and in other apartheid prisons.<\/p>\n
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{{Nelson Mandela is on life support, unable to breathe on his own, an elder in the South African icon\u2019s clan said on Wednesday, all but extinguishing hopes for the Anti-apartheid hero\u2019s recovery. }} \u201cYes, he is using machines to breathe,\u201d Napilisi Mandela told media after visiting the much-loved 94 year old\u2019s bedside. \u201cIt is bad, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[100],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-8717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people","tag-africa","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8717"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=8717"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=8717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}