All roads leads to MEDICLINIC Heart Hospital in capital Pretoria where anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is being treated amid a report that the former president was on life support.
South Africans lit candles, lay flowers and sang praise songs outside the hospital as a last respect to their former president
An official briefed on his condition told CNN that Madiba was on life support, but government spokesman Mac Maharaj declined to comment on the report, citing doctor-patient confidentiality.
The 94 year old global icon has been hospitalized since June 8 for a recurring lung infection.
Authorities have described his condition as critical since Sunday, and after visiting him late Wednesday night, President Jacob Zuma canceled his visit to Mozambique where he was supposed to attend a summit Thursday on infrastructure investment.
As the nation remained on edge, police barricaded the street leading to the hospital's main entrance. Well-wishers hung balloons, stuffed animals and messages of support along the wall, and crowds hovering
As the nation remained on edge, police barricaded the street leading to the hospital's main entrance. Well-wishers hung balloons, stuffed animals and messages of support along the wall, and crowds hovering nearby sang "Where is Mandela?"
"He's going to feel a lot better when he sees these signs," said David Manaway, Mandela's grandson-in-law.
His former physician and the nation's ex-surgeon general, Dr. Vejay Ramlakan, also visited the hospital Wednesday, said the national news agency, South African Press Association.
Mandela became an international figure while enduring 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid, the country's system of racial segregation. He was elected the nation's first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed.
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