Zuma: Nothing seriously wrong with Mandela

2012-02-26 15:45

Johannesburg - Former president Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital on Sunday as he was in "good health" and he had got a "good night's rest", the presidency said.

"The doctors have decided to send him home as the diagnostic procedure he underwent did not indicate anything seriously wrong with him," it said in a statement.

President Jacob Zuma said he was making good progress.

"He is surrounded by his family and is relaxed and comfortable.The doctors are happy with the progress he is making."

Zuma thanked all South Africans for their love and support of Madiba.

"We also thank all for affording Madiba and his family privacy and dignity.’’

He said the 93-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner had undergone a diagnostic procedure on Saturday to determine the cause of his longstanding abdominal complaint.

“The doctors have assured us that there is nothing to worry about and that Madiba is in good health."

Photographer briefly detained

By mid-morning on Saturday, news broke that Mandela had been admitted to an undisclosed hospital with a stomach ailment.

This resulted in journalists and photographers rushing from hospital to hospital in Tshwane and Johannesburg trying to locate him.

In Tshwane, Beeld photographer Theana Breugem, who had taken pictures of the One Military hospital building, was made to delete the pictures after being briefly detained. Such buildings are assumed to be military key points, with pictures not allowed.

In Johannesburg, journalists were told to vacate the premises of Milpark hospital - where Mandela was treated for a respiratory infection last year.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said there was "nothing wrong" with Madiba and that he was admitted to undergo a laparoscopy.

"The reason why we took him to hospital is because he did have a discomfort, an ongoing discomfort," she told a media briefing in Parliament.

Tests

...the only way we could finally get to the bottom of this was by taking him to hospital and having a number of tests to find out, if in fact, what was prescribed, what we were giving him, was working, and if we could not make it any better."

Asked whether Mandela had undergone actual surgery, as speculated in the media, she said: "He had a laparoscopy... an investigative laparoscopy."

"It is not the kind of surgery you are thinking about, it's non-invasive, but nonetheless investigative."

A laparoscopy is also known as minimally invasive surgery (MIS), or keyhole surgery.

- SAPA