“Nation prays for Madiba,” was the
front-page headline in The Sowetan as the daily attempted to capture the
zeitgeist of a nation.
“We love Madiba, we feel every inch of
anxiety, stress and pain with the rest of his close and distant family. And
like concerned loved ones, we want to know how he is doing.”
As Mandela underwent more medical tests
yesterday, government officials in charge of releasing information about his
heath have repeatedly declined to provide specifics about Mandela’s now
three-day hospitalisation, calling on citizens to respect the beloved
politician’s privacy.
But since Mandela represents more than
a man to many in the nation of 50 million people and to the world at large,
people are now querying the secrecy behind the details about his health.
Mandela is revered for being a leader
of the struggle against racist white rule in South Africa and for preaching
reconciliation once he emerged from prison in 1990 after 27 years behind bars.
He won South Africa’s first truly democratic elections in 1994, serving one
five-year term.
The Star had a front-page picture of a
sand sculpture with a “get well soon” message inscribed next to a sand portrait
of Mandela built on a beach in India.
Despite the mudslinging by the
opposition aimed at the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the build-up
to its key conference, political parties are joining in the chorus of prayers
to wish Mandela well.
“When Mandela is admitted to hospital,
all of us get affected because we love and care for him,” said the main
opposition Democratic Alliance spokesman, Mmusi Maimane.
But there was also a level of
resignation about Mandela’s fate – in contrast to the panic of previous health
scares – and a sense that Mandela must now be left in peace.
“Dear South Africans, please let Nelson
Mandela go, he is old now and deserves to rest,” @ComradeESETHU from Cape Town
wrote on Twitter.
Another South African newspaper, The
Sunday Times, quoted an unnamed person close to the Mandela family as saying:
“He has not been talking ... he is not looking good. It’s clear that something
is troubling him.”
The government had explained that the
former president would remain in hospital (for a third day) yesterday and
receive further undisclosed tests.
Sonwabo Mbananga, a spokesman for the
nation’s Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for the 94-year-old’s health
care, said he was comfortable and there is “no immediate danger to him at this
stage.”
Defence Minister Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula visited Mandela earlier yesterday at the country’s leading
military hospital in Pretoria and found him “in good spirits.”
“He is comfortable, he continues to
receive treatment which... (is) routine and that should be expected of a person
of his senior age,” Mbananga told Agence France Presse (AFP).
The explanation came after a media
report indicated that Mandela had stopped speaking following deterioration in
his condition.
Mandela was airlifted to the One
Military Hospital in Pretoria from his home village of Qunu in southeast of the
country on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the presidency said Mandela
would take additional tests yesterday, but officials have kept their silence on
the procedures involved and have not given specifics about his condition.
It was unclear if he would spend a
third night in hospital.
“That decision is still in the hands of
the doctors.... They are saying they are doing further tests,” presidential
spokesman, Mac Maharaj, told AFP.
Mandela was said to be very comfortable
following a visit to the hospital by President Jacob Zuma on Sunday.
But it is not the first health scare
for the nonagenarian, who in February spent a night in hospital for a minor
exploratory procedure to probe persistent abdominal pain.
In January 2011, Mandela had the
country on edge when he was admitted for two nights for an acute respiratory
infection.
He was discharged in a stable condition
for home-based care and intense medical monitoring.
Madiba, as he is affectionately known
by South Africans, retains a prominent place in the national psyche, despite
leaving office more than a decade ago – a lifetime in the quick-moving politics
of the born-again nation.
Mandela became South Africa’s first
black president in 1994 after 27 years of incarceration.
He had retired to his rural childhood
village since leaving office.
However, a South African military plane
had crashed last Wednesday after disappearing en route from a Pretoria air base
to Mthatha, the nearest airport to Mandela’s home in Qunu village.
There have been persistent rumours that
the aircraft was carrying medical personnel or medical supplies for Mandela.
His last public appearance was at the
final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which South Africa hosted, where he
toured the stadium on a golf cart with wife, Graca Machel.
Source: Guardian
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