Africa News

Mandela doing well in hospital after abdominal pains

Feb 25, 2012, 11:07 GMT

A file photo dated 02 July 2005 of Nelson Mandela waving to the crowd at the Africa Standing Tall Against Poverty concert linked to Live 8 in Johannesburg, South Africa. EPA/JON HRUSA

Johannesburg - Nelson Mandela was doing well in hospital Saturday after being admitted in a pre-planned visit for abdominal pains, a South African presidential spokesman told dpa.

'This was not an emergency admission. It was pre-planned. He was suffering from abdominal pain, and it was a long-standing complaint,' said Mac Maharaj, the spokesman for President Jacob Zuma.

He added that Mandela was in 'good hands' and feeling well in a hospital in the northern Guatang province.

Zuma's office said late Saturday that Mandela was likely to be released from hospital on Sunday or Monday.

Mandela, 93, has seen his health become frailer in recent years and in early 2011 was admitted to hospital, sparking nationwide concern for the anti-apartheid icon.

Since then, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has largely retired to his ancestral village of Qunu, in the country's south-east.

He has increasingly shied away from public appearances. His family released photos of him in May voting from home in local elections, and then meeting with US First Lady Michelle Obama and her children the following month.

'Madiba has had a long-standing abdominal complaint, and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention,' said a statement from President Jacob Zuma, using the clan name of Mandela.

'We wish him a speedy recovery and assure him of the love and good wishes of all South Africans and people throughout the world.'

The former president was imprisoned for 27 years for his role in fighting the country's white-minority rule, known as apartheid.

He was released in 1990 and led negotiations with the minority regime, paving the way for South Africa's first democratic elections. In 1994, Mandela won election as the first black president of the republic.

This month, South Africa's central bank said all new banknotes in the country would carry a small picture of Mandela.

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