Nelson Mandela discharged from the hospital
Johannesburg: Nelson Mandel was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, after spending close to three weeks under intense medical supervision.
The first democratically elected president of South Africa, Mandela is revered in his home country as well as around the world for his non-violent struggle against the oppressive apartheid regime, which culminated in him being released after 27 years of imprisonment and being voted as the first Bantu president of South Africa in 1994.
At the helm of affairs of the Rainbow nation for five years till 1999, Mandela surprised everybody with his pacifying gestures towards the Whites and the Bantu-white rapprochement rhetoric.
Back then, he had been praised widely for remitting office after one term. This came as a pleasant contrast to other African nations like Rwanda and Zimbabwe among others, where presidents had turned democracies into autocratic regimes.
President Jacob Zuma, who shares the same ideological mooring as Mandela, had been keeping close watch on the health of Mandela, and issued a statement wishing him luck after his release.
Mandela was also admitted to hospital in February because of abdominal pain but released the next day after it was found that there was nothing serious.
