{{Nelson Mandela faced a fourth day in hospital on Tuesday where he was said to be in a serious but stable condition receiving intensive care for a lung infection, as South Africans to come to terms with the mortality of their anti-apartheid hero}}.
The 94-year-old former president was rushed to a Pretoria hospital early on Saturday, in the latest of a series of health scares that have been met with prayers and increasing concern.
“He is receiving intensive care treatment,” presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj, who served jail time with Mandela, told AFP on Monday.
He “remains in hospital, and his condition is unchanged,” the presidency said.
The government had described Mandela as being in a “serious but stable” condition on Saturday.
Visitors
On Monday Mandela was visited by his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and their daughter Zindzi.
His two other daughters paid him a visit on Sunday, while his current wife Graça Machel has been by his bedside since his admission to hospital.
Little information has been released about Mandela’s condition, but he has a long history of lung problems since being diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988.
It is the fourth hospital stay in seven months for the man beloved as a global symbol of peace and forgiveness and the father of the “Rainbow Nation”.
The African Union Commission chief, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said she has heard that Mandela is “responding positively to treatment”.
“He has done his part. We just pray that he recovers,” said Kennedy Moraga outside a private specialist heart clinic in Pretoria, where he is believed to be receiving treatment.
Meanwhile access to the revered statesman has been restricted to close family members in a bid to reduce the risk of further infections.
In late April, President Jacob Zuma and top party officials were photographed with an unsmiling Mandela looking exceedingly frail at his Johannesburg home.
The visit prompted allegations that the ruling party was exploiting Mandela for political gain.
The ANC – facing 2014 elections – has lost much of its Mandela shine amid widespread corruption, poverty and poor public services.
The party and the government on Monday denied local media reports that they had been barred from visiting Mandela in hospital by the former leader’s entourage.
News24
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