Nelson Mandela Health: Second Day in S. Africa Hospital

Nelson Mandela is spending his second full day in hospital where he is said to be responding to treatment for a recurrent lung infection.

The 94-year-old, who spent 18 days in hospital in December, was admitted to hospital before midnight on Wednesday.

President Zuma told the BBC the former leader was doing “very well” so far and people “must not panic”.

A spokesman for the South African president said on Friday that there was no official update on his condition.

Mac Maharaj had said on Thursday that the former president was “responding positively” to treatment.

US President Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned with Nelson Mandela’s health”, adding that “we will be keeping him in our thoughts and prayers”.

Mandela served as South Africa’s first black president from 1994 to 1999 and is regarded by many as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid.

He first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained on the windswept Robben Island where he served 18 of his 27 years in prison.

His lungs are said to have been damaged while worked in a prison quarry.

This latest spell in hospital is his fourth in just over two years.

Last December he was treated for a lung infection and gallstones – his longest period in hospital since leaving prison in 1990. In February, he was treated for a stomach condition.

The presidency has not identified the hospital in which Mandela is being treated.

Speaking to the BBC’s Lerato Mbele, President Zuma said people should “slow down the anxiety”.

“Of course I have been saying to people, you should bear in mind Madiba is no longer that young and if he goes for check-ups every now and again, I don’t think people must be alarmed about it. I would like to really say the country must not panic,” Zuma said.

The former president is often fondly referred to by his clan name, Madiba.

When asked if people should prepare for the inevitable, Zuma said, “In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has gone home. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about. ”

But he stressed that Mandela had been able to handle the situation “very well” so far.

“Very few outstanding personalities in the world live to his level,” he said.

Zuma said he was in touch with doctors about visiting Mandela in hospital as soon as possible.

Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has been rarely seen in public since.

Despite his long imprisonment, Mandela forgave his former enemies and as president urged South Africans of all races to work together and seek reconciliation.

In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

His main home is in Qunu, a small rural village in Eastern Cape province, where he says he spent the happiest days of his childhood.

However, doctors said in December he should remain at his home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton to be close to medical facilities.