Mandela's son in critical condition

Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s eldest son is in critical condition at a Johannesburg hospital, his foundation said today.

Maretha Slabbert, a spokeswoman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, did not disclose the nature of Makgatho Mandela’s ailment, the South African Press Association reported.

Nelson Mandela cancelled a morning appearance in Cape Town to be at his son’s side, Slabbert told SAPA.

Makgatho Mandela is one of four children from Nelson Mandela’s first marriage to Evelyn Mase, who died in May at the age of 82.

A daughter died in 1948 before she was a year old, and another son was killed in a car crash in 1969, when Mandela was serving 27 years in prison under apartheid.

Mandela has had two other wives since divorcing Evelyn in 1955, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Graca Machel.