Mandela spends fourth day in hospital with ‘no significant change’

JOHANNESBURG  (AFP) – Nelson Mandela spent part of Monday with his family at his hospital bedside, the South African government said, adding that there was no significant change in the condition of the frail anti-apartheid hero.
The 94-year-old former president and Nobel peace laureate has been in hospital since late Wednesday being treated for a recurrent bout of pneumonia.
“He spent part of Family Day today with some members of his family,” the presidency said in a statement in its first update on Mandela’s health on Monday.

“There is no significant change in his condition” since the previous presidency statement on Sunday night which said doctors had reported “a further improvement in his condition”.
In a report on Saturday, the presidency said doctors had drained excess fluid that had built up on the lining of his lungs because of infection.
The procedure, described as the tapping of a pleural effusion, has helped him breathe without difficulty, it said.
South Africa’s revered first black president was admitted to an undisclosed hospital late Wednesday for his third hospitalisation in four months. It remains unclear how long he may stay.
In December last year, he was in hospital for 18 days for treatment for the lung infection and gallstones surgery, his longest admission since he walked free from jail in 1990.