JOHANNESBURG — As reports surfaced that Nelson Mandela is on life support, South Africans were torn between the desire not to lose the critically ill former leader, who defined the aspirations of so many of his compatriots, and the resignation that the beloved former prisoner and president is approaching the end of his life.
The sense of anticipation and foreboding about 94-year-old Mandela's fate has grown since late Sunday, when the South African government declared that the condition of the statesman, who was rushed to a hospital in Pretoria on June 8, had deteriorated.
EPA
FERVENT PRAYER: South Africans pray outside the Pretoria hospital yesterday where ex-President Nelson Mandela is clinging to life.
FERVENT PRAYER:South Africans pray outside the Pretoria hospital yesterday where ex-President Nelson Mandela is clinging to life.
CNN reported yesterday that Mandela had been put on life support.
A tide of emotional tributes has built on social media and in hand-written messages and flowers laid outside the hospital and Mandela's home. Yesterday, about 20 children from a day-care center posted a hand-made card outside the hospital and recited a poem.
"Hold on, old man," was one of the lines in the Zulu poem, according to the South African Press Association.
In recent days, international leaders, celebrities, athletes and others have praised Mandela, not just as the man who steered South Africa through its tense transition from white racist rule to democracy two decades ago, but as a universal symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation.
In South Africa's Eastern Cape province, where Mandela grew up, a traditional leader said the time was near for Mandela, who is also known by his clan name, Madiba.
"I am of the view that if Madiba is no longer enjoying life, and is on life-support systems, and is not appreciating what is happening around him, I think the good lord should take the decision to put him out of his suffering," said the tribal chief, Phathekile Holomisa.
Mandela's 95th birthday will be July 18.
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