Mandela recovering well — Grandson

[Punch]

Nelson Mandela is recovering well in hospital, his grandson said on Saturday at a funeral for a cousin who died last week.

Mandla Mandela said he had visited his grandfather in hospital in Pretoria with two elders and "he looked good, it gave us hope that he is going to recover soon," he told mourners at the funeral in Qunu, Mandela's hometown in the east of the country.

"I thank the nation and the world for the prayers for Madiba, and the doctors and the office of the ANC for keeping the family updated," Mandla said, using the former leader's clan name.

Mandela, 94, has been in serious but stable condition since being rushed to a Pretoria hospital Saturday with a recurring lung infection, the president's office has said.

President Jacob Zuma, who visited Mandela in his hospital room on Thursday, asked South Africans to keep him in their thoughts.

"We continue to appeal to people to keep Madiba in their prayers and wish him a speedy recovery," he said. Madiba is Mandela's clan name, widely used in South Africa as a term of respect for him.

A statement from the Cabinet said Mandela has the best medical care possible.

Mandela's daughter and two grandchildren visited him in the hospital on Thursday, according to the South African Press Association.

Mandela has been in and out of hospitals in recent years. Each episode has sparked renewed health concerns.

His history of lung problems dates to when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island during the apartheid era, and he has battled respiratory infections over the years.

He has not appeared in public since South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010.

Last year, he spent the Christmas holidays undergoing treatment for a lung infection and gallstones, one of his longest hospital stays since his release from prison in 1990.

The Punch

[emezico]

Am sure Africa is wishing Mandela a speedy recovery.