Security has been stepped up at the South African hospital where Nelson Mandela is receiving intensive care for a fourth day.
Six uniformed police officers guarding the Mediclinic heart hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday morning have been stopping and searching every vehicle entering the main gate.
Barricades were erected and tape used to cordon off the area where journalists had camped on Monday, forcing the media contingent to move across the street.
There has been no official update on Mandela, who suffered a
recurring lung infection and is described as being in a serious but stable condition.
Some of the 94-year-old's oldest comrades have called for him to be granted peace. Denis Goldberg, who like Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment at the 1960s Rivonia trial, said: "I think it's time for us to accept that each of us plays our role and then moves on. It's the natural order of things.
"This desperate effort to hold on is to say we can't do it without Nelson Mandela. I'm saying we have new leaders, and new leaders must step up to the plate and they have got to hit the home runs. That's what we need at every single level, not just the highest level."
The 80-year-old added: "Let him go, let him go, with our love, with our admiration and our wish to emulate him."
But many continue to pray that he can beat the odds again. William Gumede, a political academic, told eNews Channel Africa: "It's going to be very difficult for people to accept that it's time to let go, and Mandela is coming close to a glorious innings. We must now celebrate his life."
Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was among family members who visited the former president on Monday.
0 comments:
Post a Comment