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Fassie: Mbeki calls for prayers
04/05/2004 07:46 - (SA)
Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki paid a short visit to comatose pop diva Brenda Fassie at Sunninghill Hospital on Monday night.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said Mbeki sat next to Fassie's bed for about 20 minutes. He also spoke to her family at the hospital and sought to comfort them.
Mbeki afterwards spoke to a media contingent gathered at the hospital and appealed to all South Africans to pray "with family during this difficult time".
He also appealed for responsible and respectful reporting, a reference to some sensational and unsubstantiated claims made over the weekend, including that Fassie was dead.
A prayer service was held for Fassie earlier at the hospital, EMI Records lawyer Leslie Sedibe said.
The service was conducted by Pastor Musa Sono of the Grace Bible Church in Soweto.
Sedibe also said Fassie contracted a lung infection.
"This is currently being treated and the doctors do not consider the infection to be life threatening," he said, adding that Fassie was still in a critical condition.
Fassie was hospitalised last Monday following an asthma attack, which led to cardio-respiratory arrest. Doctors were able to resuscitate her but she fell into a coma.
Sedibe confirmed Fassie has also suffered damage to her brain, but said this is "not the same as saying somebody is brain dead".
He said a neurosurgeon from the Sunninghill Hospital confirmed that Fassie's neurological condition remains the same.
- SAPA
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South Africa
