Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:36AM
South Africa says its anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, has been admitted to hospital with a ‘lung infection.’
The South African presidential office said in a statement that the country’s 94-year-old former and the first Black president was hospitalized “due to the recurrence of his lung infection” just before midnight on Wednesday.
Mandela had also spent about three weeks in hospital for a similar infection and gallstones in December 2012.
Earlier this month, he spent a night in hospital for a scheduled medical checkup.
“Doctors are attending to him, ensuring that he has the best possible expert medical treatment and comfort,” the statement added. “We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts.”
“We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure
recovery.” In South Africa, Mandela is often known as Madiba, his clan name, or as tata, which means father. He is widely regarded as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid. Mandela served as South Africa’s first Black president from 1994 to 1999.
The former South African president has received more than 250 awards over four decades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. In recent years, Mandela’s health problems have worried his supporters.
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