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Nelson Mandela

Johannesburg — Nelson Mandela is a very lonely man, one of his bodyguards has said, accusing the ailing anti-apartheid icon’s medical team of controlling visits like prison guards. As the country and the rest of the world held its breath a week after the revered 94-year-old was admitted to hospital, Shaun van Heerden spoke out against the team run by army Surgeon General Vejay Ramlakan.
“At times it felt like he was back in prison,” Van Heerden said.

The bodyguard said he was “given leave” by his employers over accusations he leaked the place where Mandela was being treated to the media.
Before he was checked in last week to receive treatment for a recurring lung infection, in what appeared to be the most serious in a string of recent health scares, Mandela was receiving medical care from his Johannesburg home.

Van Heerden charged the medical staff surrounding Mandela often curtailed the frail statesman’s freedom by imposing unnecessarily tough restrictions on visits.

“Even before he was admitted few people were allowed to see him. Some of his old friends were denied access,” he alleged.
Van Heerden also accused members of the medical team of being “starstruck” and overstepping their duties when around Madiba, often posing for pictures with him.

“I have witnessed cases where some of them shoved copies of his book, The Long Walk to Freedom, into his hands for him to sign.”
“That is amazing, and I did not like it,” he said.

Van Heerden who worked as Mandela’s bodyguard for nearly 10 years described him as a “gentleman who seriously cares about those around him”.

Security has been beefed up at the specialist private facility in Pretoria where Mandela was checked in on 8 June, with police searching vehicles and people going in.

Details about his exact condition have not been released, but officials say he is receiving “intensive care”.
On Thursday President Jacob Zuma said Mandela’s health “continues to improve” but his “condition remains serious”, after visiting in hospital for the first time.

His eldest daughter, Zenani, who is South Africa’s ambassador to Argentina, as well as his daughter Makaziwe and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and current wife Graça Machel have visited him almost daily.

Van Heerden believes however that “Mandela is a very lonely man.”
He said he would have loved to see some of his friends from the struggle days allowed access to him. “When he was at home he should have been allowed visits from old friends, but they were not allowed,” he said.

“Surely, measures can be put in place if they fear that people from the outside might bring infections.”
Last week Zuma’s spokesperson Mac Maharaj denied media reports that his family had issued an order limiting the flow of visitors at Mandela’s bedside, including leaders of the ruling ANC.

Maharaj said authorities wanted “to create a conducive environment for his recovery”.
It is Mandela’s fourth hospital stay since December, leading to a growing acceptance that the much-loved father of the “Rainbow Nation” may be nearing the end of his life.

Meanwhile, Mandela continues to get better in a Pretoria hospital, President Jacob Zuma has said.
He added that the revered ex-leader remained in a serious condition as he recovered from a lung infection. “Over the last two days, although he remains serious, his doctors have stated that his improvement has been sustained,” Mr Zuma said.

He added that Mandela “continues to engage with family”.
Zuma made his remarks while addressing a gathering for Youth Day in KwaZulu-Natal province in remembrance of the 1976 Soweto uprisings against apartheid.

He asked the audience to join him in wishing Mr Mandela a happy Father’s Day.
Mandela’s grandson Mandla spoke in a similar vein on Saturday, talking of good progress – but no-one has yet indicated when he might leave hospital.

While they might hold out hope, our correspondent adds, many South Africans clearly recognise his continuing vulnerability.
Mandela has been in intensive care since he was taken to hospital on 8 June for the third time this year. Each visit has provoked greater concern in South Africa and around the world over the welfare of the global icon, who will be 95 next month.

Mandela’s wife Graca Machel has been at his bedside regularly since calling off a trip to London last week.
In December, Mandela spent 18 days undergoing treatment for a lung infection and gallstones.

Before his latest admission to hospital, he had been ill for some days, with a recurrence of his long-standing lung problems.
Mandela contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while being held in jail on the windswept Robben Island. He retired from public life in 2004 and has rarely been seen at official events since. — AFP