President Jacob Zuma met with the medical team treating former president Nelson Mandela on Monday evening and "they gave him a thorough briefing", the presidency said on Tuesday afternoon.

It said Mandela was still in a serious but stable condition in a Pretoria hospital.

"Zuma has full confidence in the medical team, and is satisfied that they are doing their best to make Madiba better," the presidency said.

The presidency denied that Zuma would be visiting Mandela in hospital on Tuesday. "The president is in Cape Town preparing for the budget vote of the presidency," the statement said.

Daughters visit hospital
Two of Mandela's daughters arrived at the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria earlier on Tuesday.

Makaziwe Mandela's red Range Rover drove past numerous police officers deployed at the hospital's entrance. Her car was followed by that of Zenani Mandela, the South African ambassador to Argentina. Unlike other cars entering the hospital, their vehicles were not searched.

Police were stationed outside the hospital, in the Pretoria suburb of Arcadia. Security at the facility had been tightened, with police officers manning the two entrances.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Phuti Setati earlier said police stationed at the hospital were part of the presidential protection services team, whose task includes protecting former presidents.

He did not specifically confirm that Mandela was in the hospital.

Mandela was admitted to a Pretoria hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning in a "serious but stable" condition, the presidency said.

Connection
A Sapa news report earlier on Tuesday to the effect that national police confirmed Mandela was being treated at the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria has been dismissed as incorrect.

Setati confirmed in an earlier interview that police stationed at the hospital were part of the presidential protection services team, whose task includes protecting former presidents, but did not specifically confirm that Mandela was in the hospital.

Setati took issue with Sapa for having taken the connection between the two as a confirmation, and reporting it as coming from the police. "That is incorrect. I did not say former president Mandela is in the hospital ... for that information you must approach the presidency; not the police," he said.

Setati said the Sapa news report had embarrassed and compromised the police.

Sapa editor Mark van der Velden confirmed the error had come about in the editing of the original news report and that this was regretted. "It seemed a logical connection of facts and it's a pity that this has happened in the continuing official vacuum of information confirming whether or not Mandela is in this hospital, but we are happy to set the record straight.

Media camps outside hospital
Meanwhile, the number of news crews camping outside the hospital continued to swell on Tuesday.

By 11am, there were 13 outside broadcast vehicles along the street near the hospital's main entrance. Hundreds of media personnel, including logistical and technical staff, milled outside the main entrance.

Some of the media crews had generators and erected tents at the second entrance, adjacent to a busy street leading to the Pretoria city centre.

Local and international journalists were also camped outside Mandela's Houghton, Johannesburg, home. Some members of the public took photos of each other outside the house.

Earlier on Tuesday morning a group of school children from the Rainbow Hill Christian School in Orange Grove arrived at the house and sang "Get well Tata Mandela, get well".

After they finished, one boy stepped out of the group and read from a card, thanking Mandela for what he had done for South Africa, wishing him the best, and saying he was loved.

'Unchanged'
On Monday, the presidency said Mandela's condition was "unchanged" from Saturday and that he was receiving intensive care.

"President Jacob Zuma reiterates his call for South Africa to pray for Madiba and the family during this time," spokesperson Mac Maharaj said.

Barricades were erected at the spot where journalists had been camping on Monday, forcing the press to move across the street. Police tape was used to cordon off the area.

This was the third time this year the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had been in hospital. At the end of March and in April this year he spent nine days in hospital receiving treatment for recurring lung problems.

Earlier in March, he was admitted to a Pretoria hospital for a scheduled check-up and discharged the following day. – Sapa