MANDELA’S 18TH DAY IN HOSPITAL: Family meets in ancestral village

Close family members of Nelson Mandela gathered yesterday in his ancestral village in the Eastern Cape where he has asked to be buried, when he dies, according to Xhosa custom in a grave beside his mother and father.
No official details of the clan meeting in Qunu were divulged aside from word from South Africa’s SAPA news agency that it had been held “to discuss delicate matters.” The widespread assumption was that that meeting which was said by some reporters to have included a visit to the family cemetery plot by one of Mandela’s grandsons was convened to discuss funeral arrangements and the protracted grieving process and celebration of his life that is likely to follow when the 94-yearold former president passes away.
The family gathering in Qunu was the latest of many signs that the iconic anti-apartheid freedom fighter’s final struggle may be in its final stages.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s president yesterday urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honour the legacy of the anti- apartheid leader.

The office of President Jacob Zuma said Mandela’s condition remained unchanged after reporting late Sunday that his health had deteriorated to critical, alarming many South Africans as well as people around the world who regard the former president as a symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation.
“We must support him and support his family,” Zuma said in a statement. “We must demonstrate our love and appreciation for his leadership during the struggle for liberation and in our first few years of freedom and democracy by living out his legacy and promoting unity, non-racialism, non-sexism and prosperity in our country.”
The president asked that the legacy of Mandela, also known by his clan name Madiba, be celebrated on July 18, his 95th birthday.
Pretorians gathered in larger numbers than ever yesterday outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in the capital to express their deep affection for South Africa’s first black president, with both notes and words. The number of foreign journalist maintaining an around-the-clock vigil has also grown dramatically since Mandela’s medical condition slipped from “serious” to “critical” on Sunday evening.
The Mandelas have repeatedly asked that they and their patriarch be allowed privacy after he was rushed to hospital on June 8 with a recurrent lung infection. This plea has mostly fallen on deaf ears.
“Madiba is a man of the people and the people need to be a part of this, too,” said Theresa Ncieeni, one of those watching, using Mandela’s clan name.