Former president Nelson Mandela's home in Houghton was quiet on Wednesday morning, with police cars occasionally patrolling the area.

At around 1.10am three cars and one van from the Johannesburg Metro police came down 4th Street, and turned into the street where Mandela's house is located.

The van at the back of the patrol switched on its hazard lights, reversed and parked in the street in front of the gate before flashing its headlights.

About eight officers got out of the vehicles and had a discussion in front of the gate for 10 minutes before they all got back into the cars and drove off slowly.

Burning candles, bouquets of pink and red flowers, paintings and hundreds of messages at the entrance of a Pretoria hospital on Wednesday urged the former president to soldier on.

Well-wishers consistently registered support for Mandela in different forms, transforming the Mediclinic Heart Hospital's security wall into a miniature art gallery.

The celebrated anti-apartheid icon was admitted at the facility in the early hours of June 8 for a recurring lung infection.

Presents and wishes
The catalogue of presents and get-well-soon cards – mainly handwritten on cardboard – eclipsed the hospital's signpost at the entrance on Celliers Street.

Three candles were burning slowly near the messages. Many balloons, including several from a popular pizza outlet, were tied with ribbon onto bunches of flowers.

Security at the private hospital has been upscaled since Madiba was admitted.

After 5am on Wednesday, several police officers started screening vehicles entering the facility.

Despite the cold, scores of journalists from local and international media houses stayed outside the hospital.

Several broadcast vans still had their engines running. The news crews also set up generators for back-up power.

Tshwane Metro police officers parked near journalists on Celliers Street. Numerous police patrol cars were also in the area.

Tuesday night visits
Many Mandela family members, politicians, socialites and religious leaders visited Madiba at the hospital after he was admitted for a recurring lung infection on June 8.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Pumla-Makaziwe Mandela visited the hospital in Arcadia, east of Pretoria.

Mapisa-Nqakula arrived in a black Mercedes-Benz with blue flashing police lights shortly before 7pm.

Minutes earlier, Mandela's eldest daughter, Pumla Makaziwe-Mandela, and his granddaughters Tukwini and Ndileka Mandela, arrived at the hospital in a red Range Rover.

Shortly before their arrival, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba left the hospital after leading Mandela's closest family in a sombre prayer, offering support for his wife and a "peaceful, perfect, end" for a man considered by many to be a living saint.

He consoled Mandela's wife Graça Machel "at this hard time of watching and waiting".

After a 18-day vigil, in which the family has watched Mandela slip from a stable to critical condition, Makgoba urged them to be strong.

"Take away their fears so that they may dare to face their grief," his prayer read.

'A peaceful, perfect end'
"Guide the medical staff so that they may know how to use their skills wisely and well, in caring for Madiba and keeping him comfortable," Makgoba said, referring to Mandela by his clan name.

The prayer seemed to echo a feeling of inevitability about Mandela's condition that is shared by millions of his compatriots, to whom he remains a moral giant, even though he stepped back from public life a decade ago.

"May [we] be filled with gratitude for all the good that he has done for us and for our nation, and may [we] honour his legacy through our lives ... Grant Madiba eternal healing and relief from pain and suffering," he prayed.

"Grant him, we pray, a quiet night and a peaceful, perfect end."

Madiba's step-daughter Jozina Machel was also at the hospital.

Controversial businessperson Kenny Kunene arrived at the hospital's Celliers Street entrance to place flowers and speak to the media.

After Kunene's visit, more Tshwane Metro police officers arrived at the entry point and cordoned off Celliers Street where it meets with Park Street.

Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa arrived to check on the police officers and left after a brief discussion with them. – Sapa