South Africa's iconic former leader Nelson Mandela has lapsed into
critical condition after spending more than two weeks in a Pretoria
hospital to treat a lung infection, according to a statement from the
president's office.
President Jacob Zuma and deputy president of the ruling African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited Mr. Mandela at the hospital Sunday evening.
The medical team treating Mr. Mandela told the pair of visitors the condition of the 94-year-old former president had "become critical over the past 24 hours," according to the president's office.
"The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable," Mr. Zuma said referring to Mr. Mandela by his clan name.
For the past two weeks, the presidency has described Mr. Mandela's condition as "serious but stable." On Sunday, Mr. Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj described a sharp deterioration of Mr. Mandela's condition but wouldn't provide details, citing the ailing leader's privacy.
"His condition is clearly worse than serious, and clearly he's receiving intensive care treatment," Mr. Maharaj said. "What form that takes I'm not in a position to go into."
Mr. Mandela was admitted on June 8 for treatment of a lung infection, one in a long series of respiratory ailments he has battled since contracting tuberculosis during his 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa's former white-minority apartheid regime.
This is his fourth hospitalization since December. The visits have caused ripples of anxiety in South Africa, where Mr. Mandela has long been a unifying figure in a racially-polarized nation.
Mr. Mandela became the country's first black president after leading his African National Congress party to power in the 1994 elections on a platform of forgiveness and racial reconciliation. He served one five-year term before stepping down to focus on charity and advocacy work.
He retired from public life in 2004, and his appearances have been rare. At the opening of 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, which South Africa hosted, Mr. Mandela was driven around the stadium in a golf cart to rapturous applause.
In a statement, Jackson Mthembu, a spokesman for the ANC, said: "the African National Congress joins the presidency in calling upon all of us to keep President Mandela, his family and his medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time."
Though Mr. Mandela doesn't figure as a politician any more, he remains a symbol of the promise unfulfilled by party and a country that is going through wrenching economic and political change.
Economic growth has slowed to under 1% in the first quarter of this year and unemployment among young people is close to 80%. Many young black South Africans, born after the dawn of democracy in 1994, are channeling their frustration toward the ruling ANC.
Protests in predominantly black townships have erupted over poor public services and a dearth of opportunity.
In his statement announcing Mr. Mandela's deteriorating condition, Mr. Zuma also defended the care he has received. CBS News reported over the weekend that the ambulance carrying Mr. Mandela to the hospital on June 8 broke down, leaving him lying in critical condition on a Johannesburg highway until he could be transferred to another vehicle.
Mr. Zuma's office confirmed that Mr. Mandela had needed to be transferred to a second ambulance, but denied his care was compromised. "There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period," Mr. Zuma said. "He had expert medical care."
President Jacob Zuma and deputy president of the ruling African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited Mr. Mandela at the hospital Sunday evening.
The medical team treating Mr. Mandela told the pair of visitors the condition of the 94-year-old former president had "become critical over the past 24 hours," according to the president's office.
"The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable," Mr. Zuma said referring to Mr. Mandela by his clan name.
For the past two weeks, the presidency has described Mr. Mandela's condition as "serious but stable." On Sunday, Mr. Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj described a sharp deterioration of Mr. Mandela's condition but wouldn't provide details, citing the ailing leader's privacy.
"His condition is clearly worse than serious, and clearly he's receiving intensive care treatment," Mr. Maharaj said. "What form that takes I'm not in a position to go into."
Mr. Mandela was admitted on June 8 for treatment of a lung infection, one in a long series of respiratory ailments he has battled since contracting tuberculosis during his 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa's former white-minority apartheid regime.
This is his fourth hospitalization since December. The visits have caused ripples of anxiety in South Africa, where Mr. Mandela has long been a unifying figure in a racially-polarized nation.
Mr. Mandela became the country's first black president after leading his African National Congress party to power in the 1994 elections on a platform of forgiveness and racial reconciliation. He served one five-year term before stepping down to focus on charity and advocacy work.
He retired from public life in 2004, and his appearances have been rare. At the opening of 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, which South Africa hosted, Mr. Mandela was driven around the stadium in a golf cart to rapturous applause.
In a statement, Jackson Mthembu, a spokesman for the ANC, said: "the African National Congress joins the presidency in calling upon all of us to keep President Mandela, his family and his medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time."
Though Mr. Mandela doesn't figure as a politician any more, he remains a symbol of the promise unfulfilled by party and a country that is going through wrenching economic and political change.
Economic growth has slowed to under 1% in the first quarter of this year and unemployment among young people is close to 80%. Many young black South Africans, born after the dawn of democracy in 1994, are channeling their frustration toward the ruling ANC.
Protests in predominantly black townships have erupted over poor public services and a dearth of opportunity.
In his statement announcing Mr. Mandela's deteriorating condition, Mr. Zuma also defended the care he has received. CBS News reported over the weekend that the ambulance carrying Mr. Mandela to the hospital on June 8 broke down, leaving him lying in critical condition on a Johannesburg highway until he could be transferred to another vehicle.
Mr. Zuma's office confirmed that Mr. Mandela had needed to be transferred to a second ambulance, but denied his care was compromised. "There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period," Mr. Zuma said. "He had expert medical care."
0 comments:
Post a Comment