Nelson Mandela receives notice threatening to turn off the electricity supply for not paying utility bill

Mandela, 95, has spent two months in a Pretoria hospital battling a lung infection (EPA)

The City of Johannesburg has apologised to Nelson Mandela and his family for mistakenly posting a non-payment notice on the former South African president's house threatening to cut his electricity off.

The city, which has faced a barrage of complaints from residents for bungled bills, said the notice demanding payment of 6,468.48 rand ($660) was delivered by mistake.

Authorities have since said that the the bill should have been delivered to another customer in a neighbouring suburb and had instead been delivered to Mr Mandela's property accidentally.

Ina statement released by Johannesburg authorities, they said: "The city wants to convey an apology to the Mandela family for any inconvenience caused by this unfortunate incident."

The former Apartheid leader, 95, is still in hospital after being admitted on 8 June with a serious lung infection.