Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, is currently recovering from a collapsed lung in Johannesburg, according to the Reuters news agency. The 92-year-old was admitted to hospital on Wednesday for 'routine tests', having been airlifted from Cape Town, where he and his wife were having a holiday, to a hospital near his home in Johannesburg. He is thought to be recovering well.

The South African president Jacob Zuma stated that "President Mandela is comfortable and is well looked after by a good team of medical specialists", going on to say that "[he] urge[s] the media to afford him the dignity and respect that he is entitled to as the country's founding democratic president, as a national hero and also as a citizen of the republic" of South Africa.

Robert Gibbs, spokesperson for the White House, stated that "the [U.S.] president and the first lady, their thoughts are wi[th] Nelson Mandela".

Mandela spent twenty-seven years in a South African prison as a leader of the South African anti-apartheid movement, before being released in 1990 and becoming South Africa's first black president.


Sources




Source & Attribution

Originally published by Wikinews on January 28, 2011. Original author: Wikinews.

CC BY 2.5. Photograph: File photo of Nelson Mandela, in 2008.
Image: South Africa The Good News. Photo: South Africa The Good News Flickr: Nelson Mandela Source file. CC BY 2.0. CC BY 2.0.

Disclaimer

This article retains its original publication date. Subsequent corrections and updates supplied by the source are retained when available. Thames Weekly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original publisher unless expressly stated. Text and photographs remain credited to their respective creators.