Mandela discharged from hospital
Former South African leader Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital, the country’s surgeon general said today.
He said there was no need to panic about the health of Mandela, 92, who spent two days in a Johannesburg hospital undergoing specialised tests.
Mandela had been treated for an acute respiratory infection, said Surgeon-General V J Ramlakan.
He said Mandela responded well to treatment and has been discharged to receive home-based care.
“Dr Mandela is in high spirits and has been visited by his family and friends,” Ramlakan said.
“Medically, at present, there is no need to panic.''
Mandela had been admitted to Milpark Hospital on Wednesday, and there was speculation about his condition. Journalists have been camped outside the hospital and outside his Johannesburg home.
“He is receiving the best treatment from the best available health professionals in this country, and that should reassure all of us that there is no need of us to panic,” Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe told a news conference.
Mandela was jailed for 27 years for his fight against apartheid. He became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and stepped down after serving one term in 1999.
He largely retired from public life in 2004.
