Nelson Mandela ‘remains critical’ in hospital

Speaking at a weekly news conference on Monday, President Zuma said that doctors were doing “everything possible” to ensure the former South African president’s “well-being and comfort”.

On Sunday, a similar statement had said doctors were doing “everything possible to get his condition to improve”.

Mr Zuma visited Nelson Mandela on Sunday evening in hospital. He was briefed by the medical team, who informed him that Mr Mandela’s condition had become critical over the past 24 hours.

The doctors are doing everything possible to ensure his wellbeing and comfort. President Jacob Zuma

Mr Zuma also met Mr Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, at the hospital and discussed his condition.

Jacob Zuma has appealed to the nation and the world to pray for Mr Mandela, the family and the medical team attending to him.

Lung infection

Nelson Mandela, who became South Africa’s first black president after the end of apartheid in 1994, was hospitalised on 8 June for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.

In his statement, Mr Zuma also discussed the government’s acknowledgement that an ambulance carrying Mr Mandela to hospital two weeks ago had suffered engine problems, requiring him to be transferred to another ambulance.

“There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period,” President Zuma said.

“The fully equipped military ICU ambulance had a full complement of specialist medical staff including intensive care specialists and ICU nurses.”

In Washington, President Barack Obama’s National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the White House has seen the reports on Mandela’s health. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and the people of South Africa,” she said.

Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years under white rule and was released in 1990. He then played a leading role in steering South Africa from the apartheid era to democracy, becoming the country’s first black president in all-race elections in 1994.