Mandela jokes as he leaves hospital
Officials said the 92-year-old was joking with his wife and nurses, and handling the difficulties of old age “with the greatest of grace”.
Surgeon-General Vejaynand Ramlakan told reporters the anti-apartheid icon would now receive care at home after about 48 hours in Johannesburg’s Milpark Hospital.
“It comes to us this afternoon with great joy to hear that he’s been discharged,” grandson Mandla Mandela told reporters at a hospital news conference that included Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.
Soon afterward, a convoy of security vehicles and a military ambulance carrying Mandela left the hospital, reaching his nearby home in minutes. Neighbours were happy to have him back.
“Everyone was holding their hearts and saying not now,” said Patricia Ramaila, who has lived across the street from Mandela for four years. “A person like Mr Mandela — we still need him.”
Another neighbour, Gillian Jacklin, said when Mandela first moved into the leafy neighbourhood, the former president knocked on her door to introduce himself.
“But he doesn’t go out very much anymore,” she said.
“He’s become the father of South Africa — what happens when he goes and his message is no longer important?” she said.
A dearth of updates since Mandela was admitted on Wednesday afternoon had led to speculation and concern about his condition.
Journalists have been camped outside the hospital and outside his Johannesburg home. Officials said yesterday Mandela’s office has received more than 10,000 messages of support and well wishes, including from US President Barack Obama.
Motlanthe, who is acting president while President Jacob Zuma is travelling abroad, said in retrospect communications should have been better.
“Madiba has received similar checkups in the past and it’s never raised the same public panic it has now,” Motlanthe said.
South Africans affectionately call the 92-year-old Madiba, his clan’s name.
Ramlakan said Mandela was in stable condition and had not been on a respirator. He said Mandela takes medication for a chronic, unnamed condition, and needs help to walk.
“Despite all of this, his amazing, positive attitude allows him to cope with the difficulties of old age with the greatest of grace,” said Ramlakan, who is the South African army’s top doctor.
Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had visited him in the hospital Thursday. She refused to comment on his condition when she attended a court hearing yesterday over the death of their 13-year-old great granddaughter, Zenani, in a car accident on her way home from the World Cup opening concert.
The Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa wished Mandela a speedy recovery in a statement yesterday and said: “To the nation, he is a great and inspiring leader .... To the international community, he is a unique African and global statesman who rose above personal, tribal, race and party interests in order to lead the South African nation through a difficult transition from apartheid to democracy.”
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