adminThe frail 94-year-old, one of the towering figures of modern history, was admitted late on Wednesday for his third hospitalisation in four months.
Doctors drained a build-up of fluid, known as a pleural effusion or “water on the lungs”, that had developed from the lung infection.
“This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty,” President Jacob Zuma’s office said in a statement on Saturday.
Yesterday morning, Zuma’s spokesman said it was too early for another update on the anti-apartheid icon’s health.
“I have no update to issue this morning. It’s too early. I don’t even know how he spent the night,” Mac Maharaj said.
“I have said he is responding (to treatment), making steady progress.”
It was unclear how long South Africa’s first black president would remain hospitalised.
Mandela’s recent health troubles have triggered an outpouring of prayers but have also seen South Africans come to terms with the mortality of the revered Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The former president is idolised at home, where he is seen as the architect of South Africa’s peaceful transition from white minority-ruled police state to hope-filled democracy.
Nearly 20 years after he came to power in 1994, Mandela remains a unifying symbol in a country still riven by racial tensions and deep inequality. — AFP.
Online Reporter