Nelson Mandela recovering slowly in Hospital

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is said to be making "steady progress," two days after he was hospitalized with a lung infection.

The office of President Jacob Zuma says the 94-year-old Mandela is also in good spirits and enjoyed a full breakfast Friday morning.

President Zuma said Thursday that Mandela is doing "very well," telling the BBC that South Africans "must not panic."
But many remain concerned in South Africa, where the Nobel laureate is viewed as a national hero. Bokoboko Ndongo said he would be devastated to lose Mandela. "I feel bad because he's an African leader. He's a South African hero. He brought South Africa from struggle," he said. "From economic struggle to freedom. And he brought apartheid to an end."

Mandela was taken to an unidentified hospital late Wednesday. The Nobel laureate was hospitalized for three weeks in December with another lung infection and gallstones.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday he is "deeply concerned" about the health of Mr. Mandela, who he called an inspiration and a hero. "When you think of a single individual that embodies the kind of leadership qualities that I think we all aspire to, the first name that comes up is Nelson Mandela," Obama stated.

Mandela spent nearly three decades in prison for opposing apartheid in South Africa and became a symbol of the nation's peaceful transition to a democratic government after decades of suppression by the white minority. He became South Africa's first black president in 1994.