Madiba painting a gift for children
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma was the first person to visit former president Nelson Mandela yesterday.
He visited the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria at about 11.46am.
This was Zuma’s sixth visit since Mandela was admitted to the hospital on June 8, and his second this week. He stayed in the hospital for about an hour.
Zuma said in a statement afterwards: “Mandela continues to respond to treatment and is still in a critical but stable condition.”
Correctional Services officials were among the people who brought Mandela pictures to the hospital. They brought a painting of Mandela drawn by an ex-offender, Renato Booysen, in 2011.
Booysen has since been released from the Klerksdorp Correctional Centre.
Mandela’s love for children was displayed in the painting. The picture shows Mandela with tears running down his face. In the teardrops were pictures of young children, one of them in a graduation gown.
Limpopo Correctional Services regional commissioner Alfred Tsetsane said they would hand over the painting to the hospital.
He said he hoped the hospital would display it in a children’s ward.
“The drawing was part of the offenders’ rehabilitation (programme). He (Booysen) could not paint (when he was incarcerated], and we taught him. There was obviously something in the offender’s heart when he did this. It is a message we would like to pass to the children.
“The tears in his eyes show his (Mandela’s) compassion for children and their education, ” Tsetsane said.
“We also came to give a message of support to Madiba. We know that age is not on his side, but we want him to get well because we still need his guidance.”