Mandela Is Back In Hospital With Lung Infection, Condition is “Serious This Time” Says Govt

 

Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s medical condition was “serious this time”, a government spokesman told local television on Saturday. The 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero and the country’s first black president was taken to hospital early on Saturday for a recurring lung infection.
“The situation is serious this time but doctors have assured us he is comfortable,” presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told television station eNCA.

n a statement on its website, it said the former president, who is 94, had been ill for several days.
His condition deteriorated on Saturday morning and he was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria. He is said to be in a “serious but stable condition”. Mr Mandela is widely regarded as father of the nation after fighting apartheid. He has recently suffered a series of health problems and this is his fifth visit to hospital in two years.

In April he was released from hospital after a 10-day stay caused by pneumonia.

His illness was described on Saturday as a recurrence of a lung infection, which has troubled him repeatedly. Mr Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, was taken to hospital, from his home in a suburb of Johannesburg, at about 01:30 local time. Mac Maharaj, South Africa’s presidential spokesman, told the BBC he was receiving expert medical care. Doctors were doing everything possible to make him comfortable and better, he added.

Damaged lungs
“President Jacob Zuma, on behalf of government and the nation, wishes Madiba a speedy recovery and requests the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family,” Mr Maharaj said in a statement, using the clan name by which Mr Mandela is often known.