The world pays tribute to Mandela (slideshow)
As South Africans come to terms with the loss of former president Nelson Mandela, the rest of the world bids farewell to Madiba.
Pimples: Saving Madiba's rabbit (video)
Gwede, Mac and Blade try their best to stop the rabbit from whispering in Mandela's ear. But the elusive animal has some tricks up its sleeve.
Zapiro's best Madiba cartoons (slideshow)
From his toughest moments to his most triumphant, Madiba has been an inspiration. Here are some of our favourite Zapiro cartoons about him from 1994 to 2013.
Mandela: SA's greatest son laid to rest (slideshow)
The world watched as Nelson Mandela was finally laid to rest in his hometown of Qunu following a dignified and moving funeral ceremony on Sunday.
South Africa is in a state of continuing anxiety as the ailing father of the nation, Nelson Mandela, remains in a critical condition at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria.
The presidency and the Mandela family have declined to discuss the finer details of Madiba’s health, but the Mail & Guardian has learnt through four government officials and two family relatives that he is on life support and breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. Mandela is also said to have suffered multiple organ failure in the past few days.
“He has not been responding to the treatment for days now,” said an official in the government’s security cluster who is close to the events.
But on Thursday afternoon, the presidency released a statement saying that “Madiba’s condition has improved during the course of the night” and that “he remains critical, but is now stable”.
It contrasts with comments that Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe made in an interview with the SABC earlier on Thursday, saying: “I won’t lie, he doesn’t look good, but he’s still there, he’s still opening his eyes. He might be waning off, but he’s still there.”
President Jacob Zuma said: “I cancelled my visit to Mozambique so that I can see him and confer with the doctors. He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night. The medical team continues to do a sterling job. We must pray for Tata’s health and wish him well.”
Makaziwe Mandela expressed hope that her father would recover. “We will wait with him, with Tata, as long as he’s still giving us a sign, reactive to touch, we will live with hope until that final end comes.”
But in Qunu in the Eastern Cape, a relative of the Mandelas, who asked not to be named, told the M&G that Madiba’s situation was “so bad that the family is planning to meet again in order to make a call about switching off the machines. My understanding is that doctors gave them options to switch off life support as they don’t think he will recover soon. But the family is too big and they are still consulting each other.”
An official in the department of defence said everyone has “accepted the inevitable”.