Nelson Mandela discharged from hospital

Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital, according to the South African presidency.
He had been receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection.

"Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable," the presidency said, referring to the 95-year-old by his clan name.

"His team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria," the statement said.

"The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital. If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done."

The presidency said that during his three-month stay in hospital the condition of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate "vacillated between serious to critical and at times unstable".

His home in Johannesburg's Houghton suburb had been "reconfigured" to allow him to receive special care there, the presidency added.

Police blocked off a section of the street in the upmarket neighbourhood, where a crowd of reporters and camera crews had gathered.

Mr Mandela spent nearly almost three decades in prison before being released and later elected as South Africa's first black president in multi-racial elections in 1994 ending apartheid rule.

Mr Mandela's 27 years in prison under white minority rule included 18 years in the notorious Robben Island penal colony.

His lung infection dates back to this time, when he and other prisoners were forced to work in a limestone quarry.

Source: RTE