Nelson Mandela in serious condition

South Africa's first black president, who turns 95 next month, is said to be in a serious condition –this is Mandela's third hospitalisation of the year.

Doctors also insisted that he is stable, conscious, able to breathe on his own and believed to be communicating with his family. His wife Graça Machel, who on Thursday cancelled a trip to a hunger summit in London, accompanied him to hospital and remains at his bedside. 

It has become a solemnly familiar ritual with media gathering outside hospital and home, forensic scrutiny of government communications, a smattering of reckless tweets and a collective shudder among millions of South Africans. Each time old age and mortality are pitched against 21st-century medical science and one man's astounding physical and mental resilience.

At 1.30am on Saturday, when the affluent suburbs of Johannesburg were dark and deathly quiet,Nelson Mandela was whisked from his home to hospital with a recurring lung infection. 

He was last discharged from hospital on 6 April after doctors drained fluid from his lung area after diagnosing him with pneumonia.Speaking last week, before the hospitalisation, his long-time friend and lawyer George Bizos said he had seen Mandela a couple of weeks ago. "He's OK. His memory is not what it ought to be. He's conscious."

President Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj gave an unusually frank assessment of his condition on Saturday. "I've questioned them and I've asked as a layman and they said, 'Look, he's able to breathe on his own.' I think that's important. So I don't want to put a rosy picture and an optimistic picture, nor do I want to paint a bad picture and let's give up all hope." The President wished him quick recovery.

Mandela's condition triggered expressions of concern in South Africa and around the world. David Cameron tweeted: "My thoughts are with Nelson Mandela, who is in hospital in South Africa." 

People from all around the world are sending him  well wishes for a speedy recovery so that he may soon be discharged to return to the care and comfort of his home.