Ex-wife Madikizela-Mandela and several other family members, including daughter Zinani Mandela, visited former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela in hospital today.
Mandela, who is in hospital for a third day with a lung infection, is said to be “serious but stable”, according to government statement.
It is Mandela’s fourth hospital stay since December and the use of the word “serious” to describe his condition has intensified concerns about the health of a man revered around the world as a symbol of perseverance and reconciliation.
In a two-sentence statement, President Jacob Zuma repeated his call for the country to pray for the ailing 94-year-old.
However, among South Africa’s 53 million people there is a growing realisation they will one day have to say goodbye to “Madiba”, the clan name by which he is affectionately known.
At Mandela’s home in Houghton, Johannesburg, a stream of people left flowers and notes wishing him a speedy recovery.
Nelson Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to his time on the wind-swept Robben Island prison camp near Cape Town.
He spent nearly three decades in prison for conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government before he was released in 1990.
After historic elections in 1994, Mandela became South Africa’s first black president. He stepped down as president in 1999 after one term in office and has been removed from politics for a decade. His last appearance in public was at the final of the soccer World Cup in Johannesburg in 2010.