Former South African President Nelson Mandela was hospitalized with an undisclosed stomach ailment, the Associated Press is reporting. He is being tested for the cause of the ailment, but is currently in no danger, current President Jacob Zuma said in a statement released on February 25, 2012.
Mandela has had a “long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention,” Zuma’s statement also said. The president also asked that the privacy of the Nobel peace laureate, who was South Africa’s first black president, be respected.
Zuma released a follow-up statement later in the day, saying Mandela had undergone a planned, undisclosed diagnostic procedure. The former president “is fine and fully conscious and the doctors are satisfied with his condition,” the statement added. “We are happy that he is not in any danger.”
Mandela is expected to be released from the hospital on February 26 or 27. The statements didn’t disclose which hospital he was being treated at, in an effort to protect his privacy.
Keith Khoza, an ANC spokesman, said Zuma’s office had reassured ANC officials about Mandela’s health. The former president “just had some abdominal pains for some time now and the doctors decided a while ago that they should admit him…to check those abdominal pains,” Khoza said. “He’s fine, he’s in good health.”
Written by: Karen Benardello
