The world was put on alert when Nelson Mandela was rushed to the hospital on December 8th for gall stones and a lung infection. He has a history of lung problems. Fortunately, The Telegraph announced today that Mandela has been released from the hospital after three weeks of treatment. “A spokesman for President Jacob Zuma confirmed that Mr. Mandela was transported to his home in Johannesburg’s Houghton neighbourhood, where he will continue to recover under the close watch of his personal doctors.”
He will be receiving special home care until he is well again. Mac Maharaj, the presidential spokesman said he needs his privacy in order to get better. This has been Mandela’s longest stay in the hospital since his release from prison in 1990.
The first Black President of South Africa who did so much for his people spent Christmas Day in the hospital. Mac Maharaj has not told The Telegraph when Mandela will be well enough to return to his home in Qunu, the village where he lived as a youth.
“The ruling African National Congress party earlier in the day called on the country’s religious institutions to say a special prayer for their former leader, who is known in South Africa by his Xhosa clan name “Madiba” – a term of respect and endearment.” Mandela’s health has been described as frail for several years. Mandela is 94 years old. He has been hospitalized more than once for lung problems.
According to The Telegraph, “Mr. Mandela stepped down in 1999 after serving one term as president. He then took a new role as a leading campaigner against Aids before finally retiring from public life in 2004.
Nelson Mandela has touched the lives of many. He has become the symbol for freedom in many nations. Mandela visited Canada four months after his release from prison. He urged Canada to "double and redouble" their efforts to end all vestiges of apartheid.
During that time in 1990, he was not a head of state. Mandela began his address to the Canadian Parliament, “by pointing out the irony that he cannot address Parliament in his own country. He thanked Canada for offering a fleeting taste of freedom he hoped his own people will soon enjoy. Canada was imposing sanctions against South Africa's white minority government, and for many Mandela is a symbol of the international struggle against racism. “Nelson Mandela is the first foreign citizen invited to address the Canadian Parliament in 40 years who was neither a head of parliament nor a head of state.”
Mandela made his last public appearance when South Africa hosted the 2010 football World Cup. He toured the stadium in a golf cart ahead of the final match. The world’s iconic freedom fighter will remain in the hearts of many even though he is not well enough to make any more public appearances.
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