Doctors glad Mandela is staying close to hospital

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said doctors thought it was “necessary and good” for Mr Mandela, who left hospital on Boxing Day, to stay in his home in Johannesburg. In recent years, he has lived in the village in Eastern Cape province where he grew up.

He went into hospital on December 8 with a lung infection and also had gallstones removed.

Doctors have taken extraordinary care with Mr Mandela’s health because of his age. He is revered as a symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation, the legacy of his fight against apartheid, the system of white minority rule that imprisoned him for 27 years.

He served a five-year term as president after South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.