Official says Nelson Mandela on life support; Zuma cancels travel plans
By
Faith Karimi and
Robyn Curnow, CNN
June 27, 2013 -- Updated 0314 GMT (1114 HKT)
Reports: Nelson Mandela on life support
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: South African president cancels Thursday's trip to Mozambique
- Mandela is now on life support, an official says
- Family collects some of the items left outside the hospital by well-wishers
Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- South Africans lit candles outside the hospital where anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela lay Wednesday night amid a report that the former president was on life support.
An official briefed on his condition said he was on life support, but government spokesman Mac Maharaj declined to comment on the report, citing doctor-patient confidentiality.
Mandela, 94, considered the founding father of South Africa's multiracial democracy, has been hospitalized since June 8 for a recurring lung infection.
Authorities have described his condition as critical since Sunday, and after visiting him late Wednesday night, President Jacob Zuma canceled his visit to Mozambique where he was supposed to attend a summit Thursday on infrastructure investment.
As the nation remained on edge, police barricaded the street leading to the hospital's main entrance. Well-wishers hung balloons, stuffed animals and
messages of support along the wall, and crowds hovering nearby sang "Where is Mandela?"
Nelson Mandela endured 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa's first president from 1994 to 1999.
Mandela became president of the African National Congress Youth League in 1951.
Mandela poses for a photo, circa 1950.
Mandela poses in boxing gloves in 1952.
Mandela in the office of Mandela & Tambo, a law practice set up in Johannesburg by Mandela and Oliver Tambo to provide free or affordable legal representation to black South Africans.
From left: Patrick Molaoa, Robert Resha and Mandela walk to the courtroom for their treason trial in Johannesburg.
Mandela married his second wife, social worker Winnie Madikizela, in 1958. At the time, he was an active member of the African National Congress and had begun his lifelong commitment to ending segregation in South Africa.
Nelson and Winnie Mandela raise their fists to salute a cheering crowd upon his 1990 release from Victor Verster Prison. He was still as upright and proud, he would say, as the day he walked into prison 27 years before.
A jubilant South African holds up a newspaper announcing Mandela's release from prison at an ANC rally in Soweto on February 11, 1990. Two days later, more than 100,000 people attended a rally celebrating his release from jail.
Mandela and Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda arrive at an ANC rally on March 3, 1990, in Lusaka, Zambia. Mandela was elected president of the ANC the next year.
After his release in 1990, Mandela embarked on a world tour, meeting U.S. President George H.W. Bush at the White House in June.
At his Soweto home on July 18, 1990, Mandela blows out the candles on his 72nd birthday cake. It was the first birthday he celebrated as a free man since the 1960s.
Mandela and his wife react to supporters during a visit to Brazil at the governor's palace in Rio De Janeiro, on August 1, 1991.
South African President Frederik de Klerk, right, and Mandela shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their work to secure a peaceful transition from apartheid rule.
Mandela votes for the first time in his life on March 26, 1994.
On April 27, 1994, a long line of people snake toward a polling station in the black township of Soweto outside of Johannesburg in the nation's first all-race elections.
Mandela in Mmabatho for an election rally on March 15, 1994.
Mandela on life support; Zuma cancels trip - CNN.com
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