AFRICANGLOBE – The daughter of former South African President Nelson Mandela says her father has made “dramatic progress.”
Zindzi Mandela said in an interview on Tuesday that the South African leader may be going home “anytime soon,” according to reports.
“I visited him yesterday and he was watching television with headphones… He gave us a huge smile and raised his hand … He responds with his eyes and his hands,” said Mandela’s daughter, adding that her father was gaining “energy and strength.”
On June 8, Mandela was taken to hospital in Tshwane to be treated for a recurring lung infection.
The Nobel Peace laureate became South Africa’s first African president in the country’s first multi-racial elections in 1994. He is called Africa’s elder statesman and is revered across the world for his role in ending the scourge of White apartheid in his homeland.
Seen as South Africa’s moral compass, Nelson Mandela announced his retirement from public life in 2004, but continued to make a few public appearances.
