News
South Africa: Nelson Mandela continues to make steady recovery
Former South African President Nelson Mandela. PHOTO/PETER DEJONG /AP
(Reuters) – Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s recovery is ‘on track’ at his home in Johannesburg, the government said on Wednesday in its first statement since the anti-apartheid hero was released from hospital a week ago.
Mandela, 94, who has been in frail health for several years, spent nearly three weeks in a Pretoria hospital in December for treatment of a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones, his longest stay for medical care since his release from prison in 1990.
“Madiba’s recovery continues on track,” presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said referring to Mandela by his clan name.
“We are now in the phase where if we do not hear from his doctors, we assume he is all right,” he said, without giving details on Mandela’s condition.
Mandela has been receiving what the government calls “home-based high care” at his residence in a Johannesburg neighborhood.
Mandela became South Africa’s first black president after the first all-race elections in 1994, serving a five-year term.
He has been mostly absent from the political scene for the past several years due to poor health, while questions have been raised as to whether his ruling African National Congress (ANC) has lost the moral compass he left behind. Under such leaders as Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, the ANC gained a stellar global reputation.
