Mandela & Cliton |
JOHANNESBURG — Nelson Mandela is being
kept alive by a breathing machine and faces "impending death," court
documents show.
The former president's health is
"perilous," according to documents filed in the court case that
resulted in the remains of his three deceased children being reburied Thursday
in their original graves.
"The anticipation of his impending
death is based on real and substantial grounds," the court filing said.
Mandela, who was hospitalized on June 8,
remains in critical but stable condition, according to the office of President
Jacob Zuma, who visited the anti-apartheid leader on Thursday. The president's
office also said doctors denied reports that 94-year-old Mandela is in a
"vegetative state."
A younger person put on mechanical
ventilation – life support – can be weaned off the machine and recover, but
that it can be difficult or impossible for an older person. The longer a person
is on ventilation the less the chance of recovery, said the chief executive of
the Faculty of Consulting Physicians of South Africa.
"It indicates a very poor prognosis
for recovery because it means that he's either too weak or too sick to breathe
on his own," said Dr. Adri Kok, who has no connection to Mandela's care.
"Usually if a person does need that, any person, not keeping in mind his
age at all, for any person it would be indicative of a grave illness."
"When they say `perilous' I think
that would be a fair description," she said.
In Mandela's hometown, Qunu, on
Thursday, the bodies of three of his children were returned to their original
resting site following the court order.
Family members and community elders
attended a ceremony on the Mandela property that included the singing of hymns.
The reburial took place in Qunu, where Mandela grew up and where the former
president has said he wants to be buried. Forensic tests earlier confirmed the
remains were those of Mandela's children.
Grandson Mandla Mandela moved the bodies
to his village of Mvezo – Nelson Mandela's birthplace – in
2011. The two towns are about 25
kilometers (15 miles) apart. Fifteen Mandela family members pursued court
action last week to force the grandson to move the bodies back to their
original burial site.
Mandla Mandela – the oldest male Mandela
heir and a tribal chief – told a news conference on Thursday that his
grandfather "would be highly disappointed in what is unraveling."
Retired archbishop Desmond Tutu appealed
to the family of Mandela, also known by his clan name Madiba, to overcome their
differences.
"Please, please, please may we
think not only of ourselves. It's almost like spitting in Madiba's face,"
Tutu said in a statement released by a foundation he leads. "Your anguish,
now, is the nation's anguish – and the world's. We want to embrace you, to
support you, to shine our love for Madiba through you. Please may we not
besmirch his name."
Mlawu Tyatyeka, an expert on the Xhosa
culture of Mandela's family, said the court case over the graves was decided
quickly because the family knows that Mandela will soon die.
"It's not a case of wishing him to
die. It's a case of making sure that by the time he dies, his dying wish has
been fulfilled," he said. "We have a belief that should you ignore a
dying wish, all bad will befall you."
Meanwhile, Mandela's wife said the
former president is sometimes uncomfortable but seldom in pain while being
treated in a hospital.
Graca Machel spoke about her husband's condition
at a fundraising drive for a children's hospital that will be named after
Mandela.
"Whatever is the outcome of his
stay in hospital, that will remain the second time where he offered his nation
an opportunity to be united under the banner of our flag, under the banner of
our constitution," she said.
Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years
during white racist rule and was freed in 1990 before being elected president
in all-race elections. He won the Nobel Peace Prize along with former President
F.W. de Klerk.
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