Nelson Mandela Hospitalized For Respiratory Infection And Is In ‘Serious But Stable’ Condition

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first post-apartheid black president is back in the hospital following a respiratory infection. Mac Maharaj, South Africa's presidential spokesman said in a statement that Mandela, 94, fell ill several days ago and his condition deteriorated overnight.

"He remains in a serious but stable condition. The former president is receiving expert medical care and doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable," the spokesman said in the statement. He explained that the leader's health was "serious this time," adding: "Every day that he gets older it gets more serious."

"What I am told by doctors is that he is breathing on his own and I think that is a positive sign," he said.

"The problem is that his infection reoccurred," Maharaj told The Telegraph. "At 1.30am today the doctors came to the conclusion that his condition had deteriorated enough that it warranted hospital treatment."

Grace Machel, Mandela's wife, cancelled a trip to London where she was going to attend a summit on hunger. She's now in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa next to her husband.

South African president Jacob Zuma sent his well wishes and hoped for a "speedy recovery." He also requested the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba (clan name by which Mandela is often known) and his family.

This is Mandela's fifth visit to a hospital in two years, which worries South Africans, who thought they were first going to lose him in December, after he was hospitalized for nearly three weeks during Christmas break with a lung infection and also underwent gallstone surgery; and later in April, when he was admitted again with another lung infection.

Although everyone hopes for the best, his family is well aware of his health condition. "We have been blessed as a family to have my grandfather all these years with us, we have cherished every moment and continue to do so," Mandla, Mandela's oldest grandson told The Telegraph during his latest hospital visit.