Nelson Mandela’s condition still critical

Nelson Mandela remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition, it has been said. Picture: AP

NELSON Mandela remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition, the office of South Africa’s president said yesterday.

The statement from the office of President Jacob Zuma followed reports that Mandela had been released to his home in Johannesburg.

The update on the 95-year-old anti-apartheid leader’s condition is unchanged from last week, when Zuma said Mandela showed “great resilience”.

“Madiba is still in hospital in Pretoria, and remains in a critical but stable condition,” the statement said, referring to Mandela by his clan name. “At times, his condition becomes unstable, but he responds to medical interventions.”

Mandela was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on 8 June with what officials said was a recurring lung infection.

Mandela remains very fragile, and the few details released about his condition are tightly controlled by his family and Zuma’s office. Zuma last week urged South Africans to pray for Mandela and to keep him in their thoughts.

Mandela spent 27 years as a prisoner under apartheid and then emerged to negotiate an end to white minority rule before 
becoming president in the country’s first all-race
elections in 1994.