Mandela reportedly recovered from infection, surgery

View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.

JOHANNESBURG -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela has recovered from a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones that kept him in the hospital for nearly three weeks, the government said Sunday.


Mandela, 94, who has been in frail health for several years, spent most of December in a Pretoria hospital -- his longest stay for medical care since his release from prison in 1990. He has been receiving treatment at his Johannesburg home after he left the hospital Dec. 26.

"President Mandela has made steady progress and clinically he continues to improve," the Office of the Presidency said in a statement.

Mandela had recovered from his surgical procedure and the lung infection, it said, citing his medical team.

Related: 'Who is my Mandela?' South Africans consider icon's place in a changing world

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner. He spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town.

He became South Africa's first black president after the first all-race elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid.

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Discuss this post

wonderful...too bad he cant live another 100 years though, the world would be a much better place.

    Reply#1 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 1:34 PM EST
    Reply

    Great news..I was worried. Best wishes!

      Reply#2 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 2:23 PM EST

      and who f*** cares about that old,ugly WHINNEY @!$%#

      all he does is blaaaaaaming all whitemen.South africa

      and most of the African countries are contoled by @!$%#s

      mafia style. and the Chines now own those @!$%#s..

      • 1 vote
      Reply#3 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 6:01 PM EST

      Monkey Mandela DIE ALREADY SEE IF WE F. CARE.

      • 1 vote
      Reply#4 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 6:02 PM EST

      Mandela and his thugs are stealing billions of dollars not only

      from E.U

      BUT ALSO FRM POOR AFRICANS And America

      let that old bastard die the sooner the better.

      • 1 vote
      Reply#5 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 6:04 PM EST

      Mr.Mandela is not a man who gives up easily. He outlasted Apartheid, in a South African Prison with racist guards. This is one tough dude. I'm not surprised he recovered in the least. Besides I'm sure he got the best of care. He's a hero to his countrymen. You are an inspiration to billions of people around the world Mr.Mandela. Respect.

      PS: Glad to hear you are better.

      • 1 vote
      Reply#6 - Mon Jan 7, 2013 3:29 AM EST

      Nelson Mandela's lung problems are probably due to "necklacing" --- when he murdered thousands of anti-communist and Christian black South Africans before he was "reinvented". Necklacing: placing a tire over the head of the victim, pouring gasoline on it, taunting the victims and then putting a match to it. Nelson Mandela is a brutal criminal who should have been executed decades ago.

        Reply#7 - Mon Jan 7, 2013 10:36 AM EST

        And he did all that whilst in jail for 27 years?

          #7.1 - Mon Jan 7, 2013 8:38 PM EST
          Reply

          I have a lot of respect for him. He brought a nation together by peaceful means, after his release from prison, it could have been much worse and it wouldnt be called a rainbow nation now. Its all his predessors that have brought the SAs economy down.

            Reply#8 - Mon Jan 7, 2013 8:42 PM EST
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