The family of former South African president Nelson Mandela visited him in hospital on Tuesday as his condition remained critical.
Ex-wife Winnie and granddaughters Swati And Zaziwe Dlamini Manaway were seen arriving at the Pretoria hospital where Mandela is being treated.
On Monday, South African President Jacob Zuma said he had visited the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader the previous evening and had been told by doctors his condition deteriorated to critical.
Madiba, as he is affectionately known, is revered among most of South Africa’s 53 million people as the architect of the 1994 transition to multi-racial democracy after three centuries of white domination.
However, his latest hospitalisation – his fourth in six months – has reinforced a realisation that the father of the post-apartheid “Rainbow Nation” will not be around for ever.
Mandela’s deterioration this weekend, two weeks after being admitted in a serious but stable condition with a lung infection, has caused a perceptible switch in mood from prayers for recovery to preparations for a fond farewell.
There was some concern among the public about doctors trying to prolong the life of South Africa’s first black president, one of the 20th Century’s most influential figures.
Since stepping down in 1999 after one term as president, Mandela has stayed out of active politics in a country with the continent’s biggest and most important economy.