Machel thanks well-wishers
Former president Nelson Mandela's wife Graca Machel has thanked well-wishers for giving the family of the ailing statesman love and support.
Machel released a statement through the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory saying that: “So much love and generosity from South Africans, Africans across the continent, and thousands more from across the world, have come our way to lighten the burden of anxiety; bringing us love, comfort and hope.
“The messages have come by letter, by SMS, by phone, by twitter, by Facebook, by email, cards, flowers and the human voice, in particular the voices of children in schools or singing outside our home. We have felt the closeness of the world and the deepest meaning of strength and peace.”
According to IOL, schoolchildren have gathered outside Mandela’s Houghton home to sing, even though he is not there, and well-wishers have placed cards and messages of support outside the Pretoria Mediclinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated.
The 94-year-old statesman spent his 10th day in hospital on Monday and one of his daughters, Zenani Dlamini, told reporters that he was “doing very well,” according to IOL. On Sunday, President Jacob Zuma reported that while Mandela’s condition remains serious, doctors were seeing improvements.
Mandela, who is internationally recognised and revered for his contribution to democracy in South Africa, is in hospital with a recurrent lung infection. This is his fourth hospital stay since December. In her statement, Machel recognised not only what Mandela has done for the world, but what the world has done for Mandela.
“Madiba once said: ‘What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made in the lives of others.’ I have thought of his words on each occasion the world stood with him, making a difference to him, in his healing.”
