South Africa hospital discharges former president Nelson Mandela

December 28, 2012

The South African has reported that former  Nelson Mandela has been discharged from a hospital in, where he was hospitalised December 8. Mandela received hospital treatment for gallstones and a lung infection. Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj said Mandela "will undergo home-based high care at his home until he recovers fully". Mandela was hospitalised for eighteen days, his longest hospitalisation since 1990, when he was released from prison after 27 years.

Current president visited Mandela in hospital this past weekend. Zuma visited Mandela again on Christmas, as did Graca Machel, Mandela's wife.

Mandela has been hospitalised three times since the start of last year. In January 2011, Mandela received hospital treatment for an acute respiratory infection.

Mandela, aged 94, has a history of health problems. Work at a limestone quarry, where he was imprisoned for sixteen years during, damaged his eyes and lungs. During the 1980s, while still a prisoner on Robben Island, he developed.

Maharaj, once a political prisoner alongside Mandela during Apartheid, expressed thanks for public and media support and allowing Mandela privacy. On behalf of the government, Maharaj also asked for a "continuation of the privacy in order to allow for the best possible conditions for full recovery".