An Australian politician has apologized to South Africa’s high commissioner for incorrectly announcing that Nelson Mandela had died.
Resources Minister Gary Gray issued a statement Thursday saying he was “deeply sorry” for wrongly telling guests at a Minerals Council of Australia dinner at Parliament House on Wednesday that the anti-apartheid leader was dead.
Gray said he had mistakenly shared what he “thought was reliable advice.”
Mandela is in critical condition at a hospital. The 94-year-old former president was admitted to the Pretoria hospital on June 8 to be treated for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.
Mandela was jailed for 27 years as a result of inciting violence to overthrow the government and was freed in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black president in 1994.
Also in Australia Kevin Rudd returned as prime minister of Australia on Thursday, three years after being replaced in the office by his then-deputy Julia Gillard.
Rudd challenged Gillard for leadership of the Labor Party on Wednesday and won a 57-45 vote among fellow Labor members of parliament.
In the Australian parliamentary system, the leader of the governing party assumes the position of prime minister and on Thursday morning, in Canberra, Rudd was sworn in for a second time.
Gillard resigned after the party vote on Wednesday night and announced she will leave politics.
A major factor in Gillard’s demise — and in Rudd’s Phoenix-like return — is the election Australia has to hold by the end of this year.
Under Gillard’s leadership, Labor was facing overwhelming defeat, according to opinion polls. But the same polls show a Rudd-led Labor Party would fare much better at the ballot box. – SAPA/AP/CNN