Pray for Mandela, South African leader says
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s president said Monday that a critically ill Nelson Mandela was asleep when he visited the 94-year-old in the hospital, and he urged the country to pray for Mandela, describing him as the “father of democracy” who made extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of his people.
President Jacob Zuma told dozens of foreign and South African journalists that doctors were doing everything possible to help the former president feel comfortable on his 17th day in a Pretoria hospital. But Zuma refused to give details of Mandela’s condition, saying: “I’m not a doctor.”
The briefing came a day after the government said Mandela’s condition had deteriorated and was critical.
The media gathering highlighted the tension between the government’s reluctance to share more information about Mandela on the basis of doctor-patient confidentiality and media appeals for thorough updates on a figure of global interest. The government’s belated acknowledgement that an ambulance carrying Mandela to the hospital June 8 broke down has fueled the debate about transparency versus the right to privacy.
Zuma’s briefing also was an indicator of the extent to which reports on Mandela’s health sometimes overshadow the business of the state. Under questioning, Zuma said President Barack Obama would go ahead with a visit to South Africa despite concerns about Mandela’s health.
“President Obama is visiting South Africa,” Zuma said. “I don’t think you stop a visit because somebody’s sick.”
Obama, who arrives in Africa this week, is scheduled to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
White House spokesman Jay Carney wouldn’t speculate about how Mandela’s health would affect Obama’s visit, saying only that he “continues to look forward to his trip.”
“The president obviously has long seen Nelson Mandela as one of his personal heroes, and I think he’s not alone in that in this country and around the world,” Carney said.
Zuma, who in the past has given an overly sunny view of Mandela’s health, briefly spoke of his visit Sunday night to Mandela.
“It was late, he was already asleep,” Zuma said. “And we then had a bit of a discussion with the doctors as well as his wife, Graca Machel, and we left.”
The president said South Africans should accept that Mandela is old, and he urged people to pray for their former leader.
“Madiba is critical in the hospital, and this is the father of democracy. This is the man who fought and sacrificed his life to stay in prison, the longest-serving prisoner in South Africa,” Zuma said, using Mandela’s clan name.