Nelson Mandela 'to be discharged from hospital' claims former South African president Thabo Mbeki

Former President Thabo Mbeki says Mandela’s doctors will soon send him to recuperate at home

Mr Mandela, 95, is receiving home-based medical care after being discharged from hospital in September

Nelson Mandela is soon to be discharged from hospital to recuperate at home, according to a former South African president who says he knows his doctors.

Thabo Mbeki was speaking at a memorial service in Pretoria on Saturday, and added that the hospital where Mr Mandela is being treated was doing an excellent job.

South Africa’s Eyewitness News reported the comments, which come after Mr Mandela’s wife Graça Machel told the public she is much less worried about her husband’s health than she was a week ago.

The country’s first post-apartheid president has spent the last five weeks in hospital with a lung infection, and was reported to be on life support. The most recent official update on his health said he was in a critical condition but responding well to treatment.

Mr Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years during the apartheid era in South Africa. He was freed in 1990 and won the Nobel Peace Prize along with former President FW de Klerk in 1993.

He will turn 95 on Thursday.