Military ambulance leaves Pretoria hospital
2012-12-14 13:46
Pretoria - A convoy of three vehicles with police lights and sirens entered the Mediclinic Heart Hospital, in Arcadia, around midday on Friday, where it was believed former president Nelson Mandela was being treated.
Hospital security barred journalists from following the cars into the premises. The three vehicles then exited along with a military ambulance with yellow number plates. Reporters at the scene were speculating that Madiba may have been discharged.
Journalists had camped outside the hospital earlier in their attempts to find out where Mandela was being treated.
Among the media there was the Eyewitness News (EWN) team which reported that: "The name of the hospital is known by Eyewitness News, but this is not being released to respect Madiba's dignity."
Misleading the public ‘not the in the public interest’
EWN reported on Thursday that Mandela, 94, was not receiving treatment at 1 Military Hospital, as was thought to be the case.
The presidency said it had not been the government's intention to mislead the public or the media.
Spokesperson Mac Maharaj said he had only stated Mandela had been admitted to a Pretoria hospital.
"It is not part of any strategy or tactic by government to mislead the public. We have never had that intention. We know to keep to the facts and we've been rigorous," he said in an interview on Talk Radio 702.
However, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula gave an apparent confirmation that he was at 1 Military Hospital in an interview outside the hospital on Monday, after seemingly visiting Mandela there.
At the time, she said: "He's doing very, very well and it is important to keep him in our prayers and also to be as calm as possible and not cause a state of panic, because I think that is not what all of us need."
On Friday, reporters from EWN, eNews Channel Africa and The Associated Press stationed their cars along Celliers Street, overlooking the entrance to the Mediclinic.
Beeld was reporting that Mandela had been admitted under a pseudonym, which was known to the newspaper.
Senior SANDF officers visit hospital
It reported that security at the hospital was tight and that a number of black bakkies and cars, identical to those used by the police's VIP unit, could be seen on its grounds.
What appeared to be an emergency medical vehicle, with military number plates, was parked in the hospital manager's parking bay.
A number of men wearing electronic ear-pieces, and who were thought to be members of the VIP protection unit, had been seen moving around the hospital grounds and inside the building.
According to Beeld, Mapisa-Nqakula and senior SA National Defence Force officers had visited the hospital.
The newspaper reported that surgeon general Lieutenant General Veejay Ramlakan was there on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that Mandela's wife Graça Machel, President Jacob Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki had also visited the hospital.
‘Specialised heart hospital’
The Mediclinic Heart Hospital is next to Maupa Naga Police Station.
According to its website, the hospital takes pride in being "the first and still the only hospital of its kind - a private, specialised heart hospital in South Africa".
A large contingent of local and international journalists had camped outside the 1 Military hospital since learning of Mandela's apparent admittance to the hospital on Saturday.
Mandela had been flown to Pretoria from his home in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape.
The presidency said he was suffering from the recurrence of a previous lung infection and was responding to treatment.
Mandela's hospital stay is his longest continuous period in hospital since 2001, when he underwent seven weeks of radiotherapy after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 83 at the time.
In January 2011, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for an acute respiratory infection. He had contracted Tuberculosis while in prison.
- SAPA
