Former South African president Nelson Mandela is to withdraw almost entirely from public life, it was announced on Friday, after growing speculation about the 91-year-old’s health.
The nation’s first black president quipped “Don’t call me, I will call you,” when he formally retired five years ago, but continued to grace political rallies and other special events.
Mandela, however, “recently decided to cut back his engagements even further and spend more time with his family,” said Jakes Gerwel, who chairs the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
The statement came after a week of rumors in South African political and media circles that Mandela was in hospital and possibly nearing the end of his life.
The highly sensitive subject is rarely discussed openly, although occasional controversies erupt around the plans for his funeral.
“There has been a great deal of speculation recently about the state of Mr Mandela’s health, to the extent where rumors have even been spread that he is extremely ill,” Gerwel said.
“The fact is that Mr Mandela is as well as anyone can expect of someone who is 91 years old and who has lived an active and demanding life as he has. He obviously needs to rest more than he has in the past, and indeed to do the things that he enjoys in his well-deserved retirement,” he said.
The statement said Mandela had always been transparent about his health. He made a public announcement in 2001 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“People everywhere can therefore be assured that Mr Mandela and his family will continue this trend and will keep the public informed should there be any significant deterioration in his health. In the meantime, we appeal to all concerned to respect Mr Mandela’s privacy and that of his family. The endless speculation often leads to intrusive questioning of those around him,” Gerwel said.
Mandela’s grandson this week laughed off the speculation, saying he had had breakfast with the former president and there was no cause for alarm.
“I’ve been with my grandfather this morning,” Mandla Zwelivelile Mandela said. “There is nothing wrong with him. The old man is elderly now and has routine check-ups — and people get excited about it.”
The foundation, which seeks to protect Mandela’s name and schedule, this week rebuked Hollywood actor Charlize Theron after she reportedly auctioned a meeting with him at a charity event.
Theron sold a trip to the 2010 World Cup, a meeting with Mandela and a kiss from her for US$140,000.
The foundation said: “A very strict process needs to be followed to get a meeting with Mandela. Not even the charity foundations Mandela himself established are allowed to auction off time with him.”
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
COMMUNITY CONFLICT: Concerns about disease spread from corpses has run up against friends and families’ desire to bury their dead as infection spreads in the area Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week. No one was hurt in the attack, according to reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections fled the facility and are unaccounted for, a hospital director said. Angry residents arrived at the clinic in the
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
RSS