Nelson Mandela admitted to hospital

Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a lung infection, the office of South African President Jacob Zuma says. In a statement on its website, it said the former president, who is 94, had been ill for several days.

His condition deteriorated on Saturday morning and he was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria. He is said to be in a "serious but stable condition".

Mr Mandela is widely regarded as father of the nation after fighting apartheid.

He has recently suffered a series of health problems and this is his fifth visit to hospital in two years.


In April he was released from hospital after a 10-day stay caused by pneumonia.

His illness was described on Saturday as a recurrence of a lung infection, which has troubled him repeatedly.

Mr Mandela, South Africa's first black president, was taken to hospital, from his home in a suburb of Johannesburg, at about 01:30 local time.

Mac Maharaj, South Africa's presidential spokesman, told the BBC he was receiving expert medical care.

Doctors were doing everything possible to make him comfortable and better, he added.

Damaged lungs

"President Jacob Zuma, on behalf of government and the nation, wishes Madiba a speedy recovery and requests the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family," Mr Maharaj said in a statement, using the clan name by which Mr Mandela is often known.
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Mr Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999.

He was previously imprisoned for 27 years, and is believed to have suffered damaged lungs while working in a prison quarry.

He contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while being held in jail on the windswept Robben Island.

He retired from public life in 2004 and has been rarely seen in public since.

There was a row in April when South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) - Mr Mandela's party - filmed a visit to see him and broadcast the pictures of him with President Zuma and other party figures.

Critics called it an invasion of his privacy.

Mr Mandela awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 jointly with former President FW de Klerk for ending apartheid and bringing democracy to South Africa.

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