Nelson Mandela, 95, Rushed to Hospital Again in Johannesburg, South Africa With Serious Lung Infection
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, who turns 95 next month, is said to be in a serious condition - a rare choice of word for government officials who have played down past health scares - as he was rushed from his home to the hospital Saturday with a recurring lung infection.
He is said to be stable, conscious, able to breathe on his own and believed to be communicating with his family. His wife Graça Machel, who on Thursday cancelled a trip to a hunger summit in London, accompanied him to hospital and remains at his bedside.
This is Mandela's third hospitalization of the year. It has become a solemnly familiar ritual with media gathering outside hospital and home, forensic scrutiny of government communications, a smattering of reckless tweets and a collective shudder among millions of South Africans, according to The Guardian.
Mandela was taken from his home in Houghton, an up market suburb of Johannesburg, to a hospital in the administrative capital, Pretoria.
"During the past few days, former president Nelson Mandela has had a recurrence of lung infection," said a statement from the office of president Jacob Zuma on Saturday. "This morning at about 1.30am, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a Pretoria hospital. He remains in a serious but stable condition."
The presidency said Mandela was receiving expert medical care and "doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable".
Zuma wished Mandela a quick recovery on behalf of the government and the nation, and requested that the media and the public respect the privacy of the former leader and his family.
Long retired from politics, Mandela has been vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment under racial apartheid. Last December he was treated for a lung infection and had a procedure to remove gallstones during nearly three weeks in hospital.