Mandela ‘steadily improving’ on 95th birthday
19 July 2013 11:58 PM GMT
South Africa’s president said Nelson Mandela’s health continues to improve as he marks his 95th birthday. A statement from President Jacob Zuma’s office on Thursday said, ‘Madiba remains in hospital in Pretoria but his doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving.’
Mandela’s daughter Zindzi has said her father is gaining strength and may be going home ‘anytime soon.’ Court documents filed by the family earlier this month had said Mandela was on life support and near death. He has been the hospital since 8 June, and officials say his condition is critical but stable.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said people will forever draw strength and inspiration from Mandela’s ‘extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness and humility’, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said Mandela’s name ‘is inseparably linked with an entire epoch of Africa’s modern history’, Xinhua reported.
Mandela, who served as president from 1994 to 1999, has been in hospital since June 8 for a recurring lung infection. South African President Jacob Zuma Thursday said Mandela’s doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving.
‘Our family was deeply moved by our visit to Madiba’s former cell on Robben Island during our recent trip to South Africa, and we will forever draw strength and inspiration from his extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness and humility,’ Obama said in a statement.
Obama had hoped to see Mandela when he visited the country in June but failed due to Mandela’s hospitalisation. The day was declared by the UN as Nelson Mandela International Day. ‘On Nelson Mandela International Day, people everywhere have the opportunity to honour Madiba through individual and collective acts of service,’ Obama said in his statement.
‘Through our own lives, by heeding his example, we can honour the man who showed his own people – and the world – the path to justice, equality and freedom,’ he added.
‘Your name is inseparably linked with an entire epoch of Africa’s modern history that heralded the building of the new and democratic Republic of South Africa,’ Putin said.
Mandela has a ‘well-deserved authority’ both in South Africa and abroad thanks to his decades-long political and public activities, Putin said in the message published on the Kremlin website.
Mandela’s daughter Zindzi has said her father is gaining strength and may be going home ‘anytime soon.’ Court documents filed by the family earlier this month had said Mandela was on life support and near death. He has been the hospital since 8 June, and officials say his condition is critical but stable.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said people will forever draw strength and inspiration from Mandela’s ‘extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness and humility’, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said Mandela’s name ‘is inseparably linked with an entire epoch of Africa’s modern history’, Xinhua reported.
Mandela, who served as president from 1994 to 1999, has been in hospital since June 8 for a recurring lung infection. South African President Jacob Zuma Thursday said Mandela’s doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving.
‘Our family was deeply moved by our visit to Madiba’s former cell on Robben Island during our recent trip to South Africa, and we will forever draw strength and inspiration from his extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness and humility,’ Obama said in a statement.
Obama had hoped to see Mandela when he visited the country in June but failed due to Mandela’s hospitalisation. The day was declared by the UN as Nelson Mandela International Day. ‘On Nelson Mandela International Day, people everywhere have the opportunity to honour Madiba through individual and collective acts of service,’ Obama said in his statement.
‘Through our own lives, by heeding his example, we can honour the man who showed his own people – and the world – the path to justice, equality and freedom,’ he added.
‘Your name is inseparably linked with an entire epoch of Africa’s modern history that heralded the building of the new and democratic Republic of South Africa,’ Putin said.
Mandela has a ‘well-deserved authority’ both in South Africa and abroad thanks to his decades-long political and public activities, Putin said in the message published on the Kremlin website.
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