Nelson Mandela admitted to hospital

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela, 92, was admitted to hospital for age-related medical tests.

The tests were described by the Nelson Mandela Foundation as routine, Xinhua reported.

Talk Radio 702 in Johannesburg said Mandela’s admission to the city’s Milpark hospital is nothing out of the ordinary and is in line with health checks for a man of his age.

The radio said that green netting was erected to conceal the activity behind the hospital entrance. A number of black VIP cars were parked outside.

Several members of the Mandela family were at the hospital. Mandela’s wife Graca Machel was seen leaving the facility in a luxury car Wednesday evening. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren also left.

On Tuesday, South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu told the South African Press Association (SAPA) that Mandela was “frail”. “I saw him last week,” Tutu said in Cape Town. “He was all right, I mean he’s 92, man, you know. And he’s frail.”

Earlier this month, a report circulated on online social network Twitter saying the elder statesman had died. The report was condemned as malicious and insensitive by South Africa’s ruling African National Congress.

According to local newspaper Rapport, although the rumours were false, reliable sources had confirmed that Mandela’s health had deteriorated.

Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically-elected president in 1994. The icon of South African anti-apartheid movement served 27 years in prison before being released in 1990. He retired from public life a few years ago.