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: www.theguardianmobile.com/readNewsItem1.php?nid=14386

Madiba get well soon.