Numerous media houses remained outside a Pretoria hospital on Wednesday as former president Nelson Mandela spent his fifth day there being treated for a recurring lung infection.
More than ten outside broadcast vehicles were parked close to one of the hospital’s entrances.
Security remained tight at the facility, with six police officers manning each entrance. All cars entering the facility were searched.
By 8am, no family members of the elder statesman had been seen entering or leaving the hospital.
On Tuesday, Mandela’s ex-wife, African National Congress MP Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, left the hospital before 6pm.
She and her daughter Zindzi were driven off in a black Audi, escorted by a white Mercedes Benz. Both cars had flashing blue police lights.
Mandela’s other two daughters, Makaziwe and Zenani, who is South Africa’s ambassador to Argentina, were also seen at the hospital on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the presidency announced that the ailing icon had been admitted to hospital in the early hours of the morning and was in a “serious but stable” condition.
His condition had remained unchanged since then.
The presidency said on Tuesday that the doctors treating Mandela had given President Jacob Zuma a thorough briefing on Monday night.
“President Zuma has full confidence in the medical team, and is satisfied that they are doing their best to make Madiba better,” spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
Mandela was still in a “serious but stable” condition.
This is the third time this year the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been hospitalised.
At the end of March and in April, he spent nine days in hospital receiving treatment for recurring lung problems.
Earlier in March, he was admitted to a Pretoria hospital for a scheduled check-up and was discharged the following day. – Sapa
South Africa President Jacob Zuma appeared on state television Tuesday to reassure an uneasy nation that Nelson Mandela, although in a serious condition, is receiving the best of care.
In a brief recorded interview Zuma reiterated that the anti-apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa was in a stable condition.
“We are all feeling it, that our president, the real father of democracy in South Africa is in the hospital,” Zuma, looking relaxed and clad in a sweater, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Mandela was rushed to hospital in the early hours of Saturday, to receive treatment for a lung infection.
“Yesterday I met the team of doctors who are treating him. They gave me a very thorough briefing and really I was very confident that they know what they are doing and they’re doing a very good job,” Zuma said.
“Whilst it is very serious but he’s stabilised and we are all praying for him really to recuperate quickly.”
Although Mandela was only president for one five-year term, he bestrides South African politics.
In prison for 27 years for his beliefs, he became the undisputed face of the anti-apartheid movement.
“We need him to be with us and I’m sure that all the messages that have been pouring in to wish him a quick, speedy recovery, they are highly welcome,” Zuma said.
“But that also indicates the love of our people to him and we certainly join everyone to say he should recover quickly.”
“And I’m sure, knowing him as I do, he’s a good fighter and he’ll be with us very soon.”
Mandela’s latest hospitalisation, the fourth in seven months, has been met with a sense of resignation among many South Africans, who have come to terms with their icon’s mortality. – Sapa
A fence was erected on Monday evening next to one of the entrances of the Pretoria hospital where former President Nelson Mandela was believed to be.
Police officers set up the barrier where numerous journalists had been camped out, close to a busy street in Arcadia. Tshwane metro police officers ordered journalists to move their cars.
There was speculation that President Jacob Zuma was expected to arrive at the hospital.
Around 10 uniformed policemen stood at the entrance, along with officers in civilian clothes. Several police cars were driven into and out of the hospital. All vehicles entering the hospital premises were inspected.
Earlier on Monday presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said Mandela was receiving intensive care.
“Today the doctors are saying his condition is unchanged,” he told reporters from his office at the Union Buildings.
“He is under expert attention and they [doctors] are doing everything to keep him comfortable.” Maharaj said a report in The Star suggesting the Mandela family had barred ANC and government officials from visiting Madiba was unfortunate.
“It’s very unfortunate that one particular newspaper chose to run with that as a headline. I’ve read that report and it has no single source it attributes to, except three unnamed sources.
“There are restrictions which arise from the fact that Madiba is under intensive care. Those are medical restrictions to control movement of people [to exclude the] possibility of visitors bringing infection into the environment,” said Maharaj.
The Star newspaper reported that the Mandela family had taken charge of the 94-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner’s hospital stay, banning everyone, including government leaders and senior party officials, from visiting him.
The African National Congress on Monday said it was unaware of this.
Maharaj confirmed Zuma was scheduled to visit Mandela in hospital, but did not say when.
“As head of state, president Zuma will visit at the appropriate time. We just want Madiba to get better.” ANC MP and Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had also been at the hospital. – Sapa
Journalists waiting for news during a previous Mandela hospitalisation
Former president Nelson Mandela is receiving intensive care at a Pretoria hospital, presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said on Monday.
“Today the doctors are saying his condition is unchanged,” he told reporters from his office at the Union Buildings.
“He is under expert attention and they [doctors] are doing everything to keep him comfortable.”
Maharaj said a report in The Star suggesting the Mandela family had barred the ANC and government from visiting Madiba were unfortunate.
“There is no substance to that. It’s very unfortunate that one particular newspaper chose to run with that as a headline. I’ve read that report and it has no single source it attributes to, except three unnamed sources.
“There are restrictions which arise from the fact that Madiba is under intensive care. Those are medical restrictions to control movement of people [to exclude the] possibility of visitors bringing infection into the environment,” said Maharaj.
The Star newspaper reported that the Mandela family had taken charge of the 94-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner’s hospital stay, banning everyone, including government leaders and senior party officials, from visiting him.
The African National Congress on Monday said it was unaware of this.
Maharaj said President Jacob Zuma was scheduled to visit Mandela in hospital, but did not say when.
“His [Zuma’s] focus now is to allow the medical team every opportunity to concentrate on their job. To allow the closest relatives to go there and be close to him. As head of state, president Zuma will visit at the appropriate time. We just want Madiba to get better.”
ANC MP and Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had been at the hospital.
Maharaj said the 48 hours between Saturday to Monday, when there was no update on Mandela’s health, was caused by the lack of progress on the elder statesman’s health.
“You would not want a repetition of the same thing over and over. I know you want him to get better, but we can’t give you good news if it’s false. We can’t give you bad news when it’s not true.
Local and international journalists spent the day outside the two entrances to the Pretoria hospital where Mandela was believed to be. Security guards had been posted at the entrances.
More than 10 broadcast vans were there. Some journalists had erected small tents and others had generators. Passers-by stopped to ask about Mandela. – Sapa
Former president Nelson Mandela’s family has denied barring government officials from visiting him in hospital, the ANC said on Monday.
“We have spoken to the family about this report and they deny that they issued such an instruction or spoke to the media on barring the ANC and government from visiting Madiba,” said spokesman Jackson Mthembu in a statement.
“What we know is that given the pressure associated with the admission of president Mandela, there are general restrictions that permit only relevant people to have access.”
The Star newspaper reported on Monday that the Mandela family had taken charge of the 94-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner’s hospital stay, banning everyone — including government leaders and senior party officials — from visiting him.
Mthembu said: “We will continue as the ANC to pray for his recovery and call on all South Africans and the world to keep him and his family in their prayers… we appreciate the good work that is [being] done by his medical team.”
Mandela has spent two nights in hospital.
Earlier, the presidency said Mandela’s condition was “unchanged”.
“Former president Nelson Mandela remains in hospital, and his condition is unchanged. Madiba was admitted on Saturday, 8 June 2013, for treatment in a Pretoria hospital for a lung infection,” spokesman Mac Maharaj said.
Mandela has been in and out of hospital in the past few years. At the end of March and in April this year he spent nine days in hospital receiving treatment for recurring lung problems.
Messages of support continued to come in for the ailing icon.
North West premier Thandi Modise on Monday urged people to continue praying for Mandela.
“To many across the globe, in our country, and province, Tata Madiba is a unifier and a symbol of reconciliation,” Modise said in a statement.
“Though we know that he is not immortal, like all of us, we are inspired by his fighting spirit and wish his family all the strength for them to unite in love and continue to give him all the support he needs.”
The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) also sent its best wishes to Mandela.
“Sadtu’s more than 260,000 members join millions in South Africa and the rest of the world in keeping our most revered icon Madiba and his family in our thoughts and prayers,” the union said in a statement. – Sapa
Newspapers speculated on the health of former president Nelson Mandela on Monday morning, more than two days since the last update on his condition was made public.
“Mandela Lockdown”, read The Star newspaper’s front page headline, accompanied by a report on his family apparently banning government and senior African National Congress officials from visiting the anti-apartheid icon.
Without citing sources, The Star said it “understood” that the family had barred visitors.
It quoted “three highly placed government sources” who said Mandela’s condition was “scary”.
The Presidency issued a statement on Saturday morning, saying he was in a “serious but stable” condition after being admitted to a Pretoria hospital early on Saturday morning due to a recurring lung infection.
But since then, no official update has been available.
The Times newspaper reported on Monday morning that there had been no change in his condition.
“No news as world holds its breath,” read the daily’s headline.
Afrikaans newspaper Beeld, quoted ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu as saying nobody knew when “God would call Madiba”.
The Sowetan’s front page read: “Nation unites in prayer”, quoting unnamed family members saying his condition had not changed and was “still serious”.
Meanwhile, Wikipedia’s page on Mandela was vandalised, and “updated”, saying he died on June 9, but this was quickly fixed again.
At the weekend, a fake Twitter account using talk show host Piers Morgan’s name, announced the “tragic news” that Mandela had died in his sleep. This was retweeted more than 1300 times. But it soon became clear in the Twitter-sphere that the tweet was a hoax.
Mandela has been in and out of hospital in the past few years. In April this year, he spent nine days in hospital receiving treatment for recurring lung problems.
In December last year, Mandela underwent an operation to remove gallstones and treat the recurring lung infection. He was discharged after an 18-day stay and placed under home-based high care at his Houghton home.
In January, the presidency said Mandela had made a full recovery from the surgery and continued to improve. In February last year he was admitted to hospital for a stomach ailment.
In January 2011, a virtual void of information marked Mandela’s admission to Johannesburg specialist care Milpark Hospital. With very little information to go on at that time, speculation was rife and reports of his death started running on social networks.
Finally, on January 28, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Surgeon General Vejaynand Ramlakan addressed a media briefing on his health.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, which customarily managed publicity for the 94-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, only broke its silence on Monday, January 31, 2011.
This was after then Sunday Independent editor Makhudu Sefara wrote an item called “The making of an unnecessary crisis”. – Sapa
South Africa prayed for Nelson Mandela on Sunday as the revered peace icon spent a second day in hospital, with calls for the family and the nation to “let him go”.
Government officials have given no update on his health since announcing that the frail 94-year-old was taken to a Pretoria hospital early Saturday in a “serious but stable” condition suffering from a lung infection.
South Africans are beginning to come to terms with the mortality of their first black president and father of the “Rainbow Nation”, following a string of health scares in recent months.
The Sunday Times newspaper carried a front-page picture of the beloved elder statesman smiling and waving under the headline: “It’s time to let him go”.
It is the fourth hospital stay since December for the Nobel peace prize laureate, who turns 95 next month, after he was discharged in April following treatment for pneumonia.
Although the government has not identified the hospital treating Mandela, family members were seen leaving a heart clinic in Pretoria where a large media camp is gathered.
“We wish Madiba a speedy recovery, but I think what is important is that his family must release him,” Mandela’s long-time friend Andrew Mlangeni, 87, told the Sunday Times, using his clan name.
“Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too,” said the former apartheid era prisoner, who was jailed for life alongside Mandela in 1964.
Mandela is revered as a global symbol of forgiveness following his release from 27 years in prison during white minority rule and his latest hospitalisation has triggered outpourings of concern across the globe.
He has not been seen in public since the World Cup final in July 2010.
Song filled the morning air at the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, a key flashpoint in the anti-apartheid struggle, as worshippers prayed for their hero.
“I mean Tata is 94. At 94 what do you expect?” said churchgoer Sannie Shezi, 36, using an affectionate term meaning father.
“He lived his life, he worked for us. All we can say is God help him. If things happen they will happen, but we still love him.”
Mandela’s third wife Graca Machel has been at his hospital bedside after calling off a trip to London where she had been due to attend a global conference on hunger.
While Twitter users expressed sadness over Mandela’s latest illness and urged a quick recovery, they were also prepared for the worst.
“Madiba has served us well , a real blessing a definition of a leader but it’s time to let him Go. We can’t hold on forever,” said one tweet.
While the official description of his health as serious was unusually sombre, presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj told AFP on Saturday that Mandela was breathing on his own.
“The truth of the matter is a simple one. Madiba is a fighter and at his age as long as he is fighting, he’ll be fine,” he said.
— ‘Legend in our country’ —
South Africa’s one-day cricket captain AB de Villiers joined world figures including Prime Minister David Cameron and the White House in sending best wishes for Mandela.
“He’s a legend in our country,” he said on a tour in England, voicing hope that Mandela would recover soon and “maybe even get that big 100 when it comes to birthdays”.
Mandela was being treated at at his Johannesburg home when his condition worsened and he was taken to hospital in Pretoria at 1.30am Saturday.
He was diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 and also has had treatment for prostate cancer and suffered stomach ailments.
In December, Mandela spent 18 days in hospital, his longest as a free man.
In March he was admitted for an overnight scheduled check-up before returning later that month for 10 days.
In March, Zuma appeared to prepare the nation for Mandela’s passing, saying: “In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has gone home. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about.”
Controversial television footage in April showed a frail, distant and unsmiling Mandela being visited at home by ANC leaders, sparking accusations that his party was exploiting him.
The ruling African National Congress — facing elections next year — has lost much of its Mandela shine amid widespread corruption, poverty and poor public services.
After serving just one term as president, Mandela turned his energy to AIDS and conflict resolution, before stepping out of the public eye a decade ago at the age of 85. – AFP
Researchers at King’s were investigating links between the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke and the state of the brain.
Data about the health and lifestyle of a group of over-50s was collected and brain tests, such as making participants learn new words or name as many animals as they could in a minute, were also performed.
They were all tested again after four and then eight years.
The results showed that the overall risk of a heart attack or stroke was “significantly associated with cognitive decline” with those at the highest risk showing the greatest decline.
It also said there was a “consistent association” between smoking and lower scores in the tests.
One of the researchers, Dr Alex Dregan, said: “Cognitive decline becomes more common with ageing and for an increasing number of people interferes with daily functioning and well-being.
“We have identified a number of risk factors which could be associated with accelerated cognitive decline, all of which, could be modifiable.”
Dr Simon Ridley, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Research has repeatedly linked smoking and high blood pressure to a greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and this study adds further weight to that evidence.
“Cognitive decline as we age can develop into dementia, and unravelling the factors that are linked to this decline could be crucial for finding ways to prevent the condition.
“These results underline the importance of looking after your cardiovascular health from mid-life.”
The Alzheimer’s Society said: “We all know smoking, a high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and a high BMI [Body Mass Index] is bad for our heart. This research adds to the huge amount of evidence that also suggests they can be bad for our head too.
“One in three people over 65 will develop dementia but there are things people can do to reduce their risk. – BBC
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Numerous media houses remained outside a Pretoria hospital on Wednesday as former president Nelson Mandela spent his fifth day there being treated for a recurring lung infection.
