JOHANNESBURG: Nelson Mandela remained in hospital on Sunday after keyhole surgery that officials said had left him in no danger but increased South Africans' concerns for their aging former president.
President Jacob Zuma told the country not to panic after the 93-year-old anti-apartheid leader was hospitalised with chronic abdominal pain on Saturday, saying he should be discharged on Sunday or Monday.
In the latest health update, Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said Mandela had had "investigative laparoscopy" - where a tiny camera is inserted into the abdomen and denied reports that he had undergone surgery for a hernia.
"It wasn't the surgery that has been out there in the media at all," Sisulu told a media briefing in Cape Town. "He's fine. He's as fine as can be at his age and handsome."
The government has not revealed where Mandela is being treated, although reporters were being kept at a distance from Pretoria's "1 Military" hospital, which is officially responsible for the health of sitting and former presidents.
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