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Hospitalized Mandela misses grandson's initiation
Source: Agencies |
December 18, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AS Nelson Mandela remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery and recuperating from a lung infection, the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader missed the return of his grandson from an initiation ceremony.
Bambatha Mandela had been in the bush for days for the ukwaluka ceremony of Mandela's Xhosa people, learning about the culture and ultimately undergoing a circumcision carried out by a traditional surgeon. Footage shot by AP Television News on Sunday showed the 23-year-old grandson of the struggle icon wrapped in a blanket, his face painted red, returning to their family homestead in Qunu, in South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Men and women awaited Bambatha Mandela with meat from a freshly slaughtered sheep. Some women sang traditional songs, others laughed and called out to their friends.
Family members had hoped Nelson Mandela would be home for the ceremony, but government officials say he remains under care at a hospital in South Africa's capital, Pretoria. Mandela, imprisoned for 27 years by South Africa's former white-ruled government, always lamented the fact he was unable to stay in touch with his family.
Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president, was admitted to the hospital on December 8, the government said. At first, officials said he was undergoing tests, but later acknowledged he had been diagnosed with a lung infection.
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