Minister apologises for Madiba blunder

Global condolences pour in after false reports

AS SOUTH Africans prepared themselves for the worst this week, rumours and counter rumours that their beloved and critically ill Nelson Mandela had already died swept round the world.

Amsterdam held a moment of silence, a red-faced Australian minister was forced to apologise and the Guardian Express featured the news of his death on its online edition.

President Jacob Zuma’s decision to cancel his Mozambique trip added to the rumours.

Zuma was supposed to have travelled to Maputo to attend a Southern African Development Community meeting but his trip was cancelled.

Yesterday in the afternoon Zuma’s office announced that he had visited Mandela and that Madiba’s condition had improved, and was critical but stable.

“I cancelled my visit to Mozambique today so that I can see him and confer with the doctors. He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night [Wednesday],” Zuma said.

“The medical team continues to do a sterling job. We must pray for Tata’s health and wish him well.

“We must also continue with our work and daily activities while Madiba remains hospitalised.”

Mandela’s eldest daughter Makaziwe told state broadcaster SABC that her father opened his eyes when they talked to him and then closed them again.

She also said that when they touched him, he responded.

Early yesterday, the Guardian Express reported on its “breaking news” online page that Mandela’s life support had been shut down on Wednesday night and he had died.

A neighbourhood in Amsterdam also reportedly observed a minute of silence to mark his alleged passing after members of the council of Southeast Amsterdam concluded – based on Facebook messages – he had died on Tuesday evening.

Red-faced Australian Resources Minister Gary Gray apologised for telling a gathering that Mandela had died saying he too had “reliably” learnt this news.

Pop star Rihanna reportedly also tweeted her condolences.

The 94-year-old has spent some three weeks in hospital.

While the rumours were clearly untrue, it became increasingly clear yesterday that many believed his end might now be close.

Late on Wednesday night Zuma cancelled a long-scheduled trip to Mozambique for a regional summit, instead once again visiting Mandela in hospital.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital singing and praying and Mandela’s family collected the dozens of flower bouquets left outside for him.

Makaziwe said Mandela was “very critical and anything is imminent”.

While Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj was not available to comment on the rumours, he earlier this week sharply criticised some journalists for their coverage, saying they were violating patient confidentiality.

An infuriated Makaziwe called the foreign media “vultures”, accusing them of failing to respect her father’s dignity and privacy.

Meanwhile, the Times of India yesterday wrote an in-depth report about the difficulty the media faced in reconciling voracious, concern-driven appetite for news of the beloved Mandela’s health with the “deep sensitivities of South Africans for whom he was much more than a simple leader”.

In Qunu yesterday, the police VIP unit removed journalists camping out near a gravesite not far from Mandela’s home.

Some initially refused to leave, demanding answers as to why they had to move. But the group later moved to where other journalists were waiting.

Earlier, journalists were told not to park in a designated area along the N2 outside Mandela’s house because heavy-duty tipper trucks were fixing a de-tour road, in case the N2 is closed.

Additional reporting by Pertunia Ratsatsi