THE Nelson Mandela Foundation has been forced to deny the former South African president had died after rumours swept the internet.
State-owned broadcaster SABC reported the denial after users of micro-blogging site Twitter said the 93-year-old Mandela was dead.
The Foundation said Mandela was doing fine.
Nelson Mandela was voted South Africa’s first black president in 1994, four years after being released from a 27 year jail term on Robbin Island.
He became a symbol of reconciliation and hope and went on to receive more than 250 awards, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
FORMER WIFE ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL
The rumours come after reports that Mandela’s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was admitted to the Life Brenthurst Clinic in Parktown in Johannesburg.
Political party African National Congress (ANC), of which Madikizela-Mandela is a member, said she was recovering from an operation to her foot.
It was reported that she was hospitalised after suffering pain on Saturday. ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza says Madikizela-Mandela was subsequently seen by a doctor and underwent an operation.
