No
progress in health, family moves to bedside
SOUTH AFRICA has stepped up
security at the hospital where former President Nelson Mandela is hospitalised.
On Tuesday, armed security
operatives stood guard outside and incoming vehicles and pedestrians were
searched amid a heavy media presence.
Mandela shows no sign of
improvement as he battles a lung infection in a Pretoria clinic where he was
admitted four days ago.
A report by Agence France
Presse (AFP) quoted a statement by President Jacob Zuma as indicating that the
anti-apartheid icon remained in “serious but stable” condition while being
treated in intensive care.
Amid the growing fear about
the 94-year-old’s condition, family members were seen entering the Mediclinic
Heart Hospital in Pretoria to be at his bedside.
Around a dozen armed
policemen stood guard outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in the capital
where the 94-year-old remained in “serious but stable” condition.
Mandela, one of the
greatest figures of the 20th century, is being treated for a recurrent lung
infection that medical experts said could be life-threatening.
Tuesday marked 49 years to
the day since he was sentenced to life in prison in 1964 for conspiring to
overthrow the apartheid government.
Mandela spent much of the
subsequent 27 years behind bars on wind-swept Robben Island, near Cape Town,
where he contracted tuberculosis.
His latest health scare has
been met with prayers and a growing acceptance among South Africans that their
hero, who became the first black leader of the country after historic all-race
elections in 1994, may be nearing the end of his life.
In Pretoria, police
cordoned an area in front of the private specialist facility.
“They are there to protect
the members of his family who come to visit him,” a police sergeant told AFP,
asking not to be named because Mandela’s location has not been confirmed by the
government.
On Monday, the arrival of
his former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the couple’s daughter, Zindzi,
prompted a scuffle between security and photographers camped outside the
clinic.
Madikizela-Mandela became a
global political figure in her own right while campaigning for her husband’s
release from prison.
His current wife, Graca
Machel, called off a trip to London last week to be with her ailing husband .
Little information has been
released about Mandela’s condition, but he has a long history of lung problems
since being diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988.
It is the fourth hospital stay since December for the Nobel Peace Prize winner
and father of the “Rainbow Nation”.
Two months ago Mandela, who
will turn 95 next month, was discharged following treatment for pneumonia.
In December, he underwent
surgery to remove gallstones as he recovered from a lung infection. In March,
he was admitted for a scheduled overnight check-up before returning later that
month for 10 days.
“Pneumonia is a killer
disease,” said Prof. Keertan Dheda, the head of pulmonology at the University
of Cape Town.
“In Mr. Mandela’s case,
besides age, we know that he has previously had tuberculosis and that can
weaken the lung defences and make one more prone to infections,” he said.
“Secondly, we know that
Mandela worked in the quarry on Robben Island for many years and he has been
chronically exposed to dust, from crushing rocks and we know that also is a
potent suppressor of your efficient lung defences.”
But Dheda said assurances that
Mandela, once a spry boxer, was breathing on his own indicated that the
infection had not yet led to serious lung failure .
Access to the revered
statesman has been restricted to close family members.
In late April, Zuma and top
party officials were photographed with an unsmiling Mandela looking exceedingly
frail at his Johannesburg home.
The visit prompted
allegations that the embattled ruling party was exploiting Mandela for
political gain.
The ANC - facing 2014
elections - has lost much of its Mandela shine amid widespread corruption,
poverty and poor public services.
Mandela has not been seen
in public since the World Cup final in South Africa in July 2010, and has not
been politically active for years.
“I think there will be
concerns from outside South Africa that Mandela is seen as the glue that holds
South Africa together,” analyst Daniel Silke told AFP.
“But I think that this is
something long gone frankly.”
After serving just one term
as president, Mandela turned his energy to the battle against AIDS and to
conflict resolution, before stepping out of the public eye a decade ago at the
age of 85.
His hospitalisation has
prompted an outpouring of well wishes from around the globe, including from
fellow Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“We offer our thanks to God
for the extraordinary gift of Mr. Mandela, and wish his family strength,” Tutu
said in a statement from his foundation.
“As the beloved father of
our nation... once again endures the ravages of time in hospital, our prayers
are for his comfort and his dignity.”
Source: Guardian
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