Nelson Mandela Admitted To Hospital

South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela was admitted to the hospital Saturday following an abdominal ailment, the government said.

"Madiba has had a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention," President Jacob Zuma said in a statement.

"We wish him a speedy recovery and assure him of the love and good wishes of all South Africans and people throughout the world."

The former president -- affectionately known by his clan name Madiba -- last appeared in public in the closing ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He was hospitalized last year for treatment of an acute respiratory infection, and continued to receive treatment at home after doctors discharged him.

Despite his rare appearances, Mandela, 93, retains his popularity and is considered the founding father and hero of South Africa's democracy.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate spent 27 years in prison after being convicted of sabotage and attempts to overthrow the government under South Africa's former apartheid regime.

He was released in 1990 and served as president four years later.

Source CNN

Mandela Admitted to Hospital, S. African Presidency Says

- Former South African President Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital today, the South African Presidency said.

Mandela, 93, “has had a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention,” the presidency said on its website.

Mandela became South Africa’s first black president after apartheid, the official racial segregation policy, ended in 1994. He spent 27 years in prison, fighting for black rights, before he was released in 1990.

Mandela negotiated a peaceful end to the old regime with leaders of South Africa’s white minority government. Three years later, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He stepped down as president voluntarily in 1999.

Mandela was admitted to Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg briefly a year ago for acute respiratory infection.

He moved back to Johannesburg Jan. 29 after spending several months at his house in Qunu in the Eastern Cape province, Sunday Times reported on that day, citing Presidential Spokesman Mac Maharaj.

Maharaj didn’t answer a call to his mobile phone today.

Source Bloomberg Business Week