Prayers offered as South African icon Mandela in hospital

President Jacob Zuma visited Mr Mandela yesterday morning at the hospital in Pretoria and found the 94-year-old to be “comfortable and in good care”, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.

Mr Maharaj offered no other details about Mr Mandela, nor what medical tests he had undergone since entering the hospital on Saturday.

The continued uncertainty about Mr Mandela’s health saw worshippers gather yesterday
morning at the Regina Mundi Catholic church in the Soweto area of Johannesburg to pray for the leader.

The church was a centre of 
anti-apartheid protests and funerals.

“Yes, it really worries us because he is a great person,” churchgoer Shainet Mnkomo said as she left an early-morning service. “He did so many things to the country, he’s one of those persons who we remember most.”

Mr Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.

He later retired from public life to live in his remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape area, and last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup.

Many in South Africa view Mr Mandela, who led the African National Congress to power, as a father figure and an icon of integrity and magnanimity amid the 
nation’s increasingly messy politics.

Inside the church, a stained-glass window depicts Mr Mandela, in a grey suit and blue tie, raising his hands to wave at a crowd.

A statement from Mr Zuma’s office on Saturday announced that Mr Mandela had been hospitalised for tests and was receiving medical care “which is consistent for his age”.