Summary
10 June 2013
Nelson Mandela remains in hospital after being admitted for a lung infection. His condition is still being described as "serious but stable". Mr Mandela, 94, was admitted to a Pretoria hospital early on Saturday.
Reporter:
Karen Allen
Messages for Nelson Mandela are left outside his home in Johannesburg.
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Report
As the world's media gathered in Pretoria, where Nelson Mandela is being treated for a recurrent lung infection, there's been no fresh information about his health status.
Whilst the absence of any official updates did little to help the speculation, many took heart from a visit by Nelson Mandela's daughter Zindzi, who said that her father was well and a fighter.
Although Mr Mandela has rallied in the face of past health scares, there is an increasing acceptance among many South Africans that the former president is frail and not immortal.
Commentators are now daring to talk of a time without Mandela, urging South Africans to cherish his enduring achievements: an end to racist white rule and a constitution that is the envy of the world, as much as the man himself.
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Vocabulary
- recurrent
repeating
- status
condition
- speculation
ideas and discussion about what is happening
- took heart
felt comforted (about something)
- rallied in the face of
improved, despite difficulties
- immortal
living forever
- cherish
remember kindly
- enduring
long lasting
- constitution
set of laws that says how a country is ruled and particularly about the rights of the people who live there
