The office of the South African president said after reports claimed Nelson Mandela was released from the hospital that in fact Mandela is still in the hospital.
“The presidency has noted incorrect media reports that former president Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital,” Marc Maharaj, presidential spokesman, said in a statement.
“Madiba is still in hospital in Pretoria, and remains in a critical but stable condition. At times his condition becomes unstable, but he responds to medical interventions.”
BBC first reported that Mandela was released from the hospital, without saying where it got the information Sky News reported that Mandela’s daughter informed it that Mandela had been released.
Mandela was hospitalized on June 8. Mandela, 95, has been in poor health and was struggling to survive in a Pretoria hospital while dealing with a recurring lung infection. He had been hospitalized for months.
His poor health is said to stem from both the decades he spent in prison under the former apartheid government and the extensive traveling he did both before and during his presidency.
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