Nelson Mandela in critical condition, statement by President Jacob Zuma says

Johannesburg: Nelson Mandela's health has deteriorated and is now in critical condition, said Sunday the South African Government.

President Jacob Zuma's Office said in a statement that he had visited the leading anti-apartheid of 94-year-old at a hospital on Sunday night and was told by the medical team that Mandela condition had become critical in the last 24 hours.

"Doctors are all possible get your condition to improve doing and ensure that Madiba is well then and is comfortable." He is in good hands, "Zuma said in the statement, using the name of the clan of Mandela.

Zuma also met Graça Machel, wife of Mandela, at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed the condition of the former leader, according to the statement. Zuma was accompanied on the visit by Cyril Ramaphosa, Vice President of the party in power in the country, the African National Congress.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years in 1990 and white racist regime. He then played a prominent role in the direction of the country divided since the days of apartheid to democracy, becoming the first Black President of South Africa in the all-race elections in 1994. He was hospitalized on June 8, for what the Government says was a recurring lung infection.

In the statement on Sunday, Zuma also discussed recognition of the Government a day before an ambulance leading to Mandela in Pretoria hospital two weeks ago had engine problems, requiring former President move to another ambulance for your trip. Capital Pretoria, South Africa, is about 50 km (30 miles) from Johannesburg, where Mandela has been living.

"There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period."He had expert medical attention, said Zuma. "The ambulance equipped ICU military had a full complement of qualified medical personnel and ICU nurse specialists in intensive care." The doctors also dismissed media reports that Madiba suffered a cardiac arrest. There is no truth at all in that report".

Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is seen by many in the world as a symbol of reconciliation, and Zuma had appealed to South Africans and the international community to pray for the sick former President, his family and the medical team attending to it.

The ruling party expressed its concern at the deterioration in the health of Mandela.

"We welcome the work of the Presidency so that they are informed about the State of health of South African Madiba and people of the world", the party said. "The African National Congress joins the Presidency in calling upon all us to keep President Mandela, his family and his medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time."

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman said the latest reports from the Government South African condition worsens Mandela.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and the people of South Africa," said the spokesman Caitllin Hayden.

Before Zuma final statement Sunday, reports from the Government, former President Thabo Mbeki and a grandchild of Mandela indicated that it was improving the health of Mandela, while it has been in the hospital for treatment several times in recent months. In the days following his last hospitalization, Zuma Office described his condition as serious but stable. Members of the family have been making daily visits to the hospital where is being treated Mandela.

Mandela, who has become increasingly fragile in recent years, last made a public appearance at the tournament of football 2010 World Cup, hosted by South Africa. Not to give an address on that occasion and was made against the cold in a stadium full of fans.

On April 29, State television broadcast images of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the African National Congress to the Mandela House. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but imagery - the first public images of Mandela in almost a year--showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to take his hand.

Between hospital stays in recent months, Mandela has been staying in his house in the neighborhood of Johannesburg's Houghton, where has received what the Government described as "high home care" by a medical team. On April 6, he was discharged from a hospital after treatment for pneumonia, which included a procedure in which doctors drained fluid from the lung area.

Mandela has been vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his imprisonment under apartheid. Most of those years were spent on Robben Island, an outpost of ban on the coast of Cape Town.