Graca, Mandla at Madiba’s bedside
|Published
Stones painted and covered in graffiti wishing former president Nelson Mandela prompt recovery are set outside his Johannesburg home. Photo: AP Photo/Jerome Delay Stones painted and covered in graffiti wishing former president Nelson Mandela prompt recovery are set outside his Johannesburg home. Photo: AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Pretoria - Former president Nelson Mandela's wife Graca Machel and his grandson Mandla arrived at the Pretoria hospital on Wednesday where he was receiving treatment.
Photographers rushed into the busy Park Street in Arcadia as a Mercedes-Benz ferrying Machel, followed by Mandla's black Toyota Land Cruiser entered the premises.
Another grandson, Ndaba, was at the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital earlier in the day.
Mandela's eldest daughter Zenani, who is the South Africa's ambassador to Argentina, also arrived at the hospital. She came home this week following her father's admission. The ailing icon was spending his fifth day in hospital.
On Saturday, the presidency announced Mandela 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 gave 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.
Police had taken over security at the hospital. Seven officers were guarding the facility's entrance. Pedestrians' bags and vehicles entering the premises were searched.
Local and international media continued to hold vigil outside the hospital and Mandela's Houghton, Johannesburg, home.
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 discharged the following day. - Sapa