Nelson Mandela, 94, spends second night in hospital being treated for lung infection

Nelson Mandela has spent a second night in hospital receiving treatment for a lung infection. The 94-year-old former South African president was admitted to a hospital in Pretoria in the early hours of yesterday in a ‘serious but stable condition’, current president Jacob Zuma’s office said. The family of grandfather Mr Mandela - who has a history of problems with the illness and has been admitted to hospital several times this year - was today at his bedside. People across South Africa have held prayers for the former leader - who is due to celebrate his 95th birthday next month - and some left messages outside his home in Johannesburg. His wife Graca Machel, 67, cancelled an appearance at a high-profile hunger summit in London yesterday to be with her husband. Ms Machel was due to address the Nutrition for Growth meeting in the capital along with dozens of African leaders, non-governmental organisations and charities, as well as speakers such as Bill Gates and Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development. Mac Maharaj, a spokesman for Mr Zuma's office, said yesterday: ‘During the past few days former president Nelson Mandela has had a recurrence of lung infection. ‘The former president is receiving expert medical care and doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable. ‘President Jacob Zuma, on behalf of government and the nation, wishes Madiba (Mr Mandela's Xhosa clan name) a speedy recovery and requests the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family.’ The anti-apartheid leader became president in South Africa's all-race elections in 1994. ‘It gets treated and he gets better,’ Mr Maharaj said. ‘He's prone to lung infection. There's a long history behind that. He's suffered from lung infection at different times. ‘The first time we came across it was years ago when he was in prison.’ Mr Maharaj added that there was no suggestion that Mr Mandela was unconscious. But the use of the word 'serious' is clear cause for concern to South Africa's 53million people, for whom Mr Mandela remains a potent symbol of the struggle against decades of white-minority rule. Mr Mandela has been vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27 years behind bars under apartheid. Doctors treat the matter with great caution, Mr Maharaj told the BBC, and Mr Mandela’s admission to hospital was ‘necessary' to give him the best opportunity to recover. 'He has been in good spirits,’ Mr Maharaj added. ‘He is a fighter and he will be with us as long as he is there fighting,' An earlier statement from the office of President Jacob Zuma said: 'During the past few days, former President Nelson Mandela has had a recurrence of a lung infection. 'This morning at about 1.30am, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a Pretoria hospital.' The statement said Mr Mandela remains in a 'serious but stable' condition. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron was among the first to send get well wishes to Mr Mandela yesterday, tweeting: 'My thoughts are with Nelson Mandela, who is in hospital in South Africa.' The African National Congress, the ruling party that has dominated politics in South Africa since the end of apartheid, urged people across the world to keep 'our beloved statesman' in their prayers.  'We will keep President Mandela and his family in our thoughts and prayers at this time and call upon South Africans and the peoples of the globe to do the same for our beloved statesman and icon, Madiba,' the party said in a statement. A spokesman for the ANC told Sky News the nation was 'prepared for the worst'. Jackson Mthembu told the broadcaster: 'Madiba is the personification of humanity, friendship, honesty, integrity,' 'Without the calibre of Madiba's leadership, the likelihood is that South Africa would have gone to ruins ... but there was a Madiba.' More messages of support for the former leader flooded in from other political groups and unions. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) sent a message of goodwill to Mr Mandela, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. 'Our 2.2million members, thousands of working people, millions of South Africans and countless more freedom-loving people around the world are thinking of you today and wishing that you make a full recovery and soon return home,' it said in a statement. The South African Communist Party wished Mr Mandela a 'speedy recovery' and told the former president: 'You are in our thoughts'. The Young Communist League (YCL) added: 'Tata is in our thoughts and we hope he will recover as soon as possible.' Many South Africans use the term of endearment Tata - the Xhosa word for father - to refer to the ageing political icon. Mr Mandela's wife was due to address the Nutrition for Growth meeting in London yesterday. But Ms Machel's name was removed from the provisional list of speakers this morning with organisers saying she had to cancel 'for personal reasons'. As news emerged of Mr Mandela's treatment in hospital, the line-up was changed and Ms Machel's attendance cancelled. The broadcaster Henry Bonsu, who was compering the event, said: 'She sends her apologies and regrets not being here to attend her session.' South African Presidency spokesman Mr Maharaj confirmed Ms Machel had pulled out of the London trip on Thursday. Mr Mandela was previously admitted to hospital in March, where doctors drained fluid from his lung area after diagnosing him with pneumonia. The former president spent 10 days in hospital before being released on April 6. Video footage was broadcast of Mr Mandela - or Madiba as he is affectionately known in South Africa - back at home and surrounded by family and friends. It is the last time he has been seen in public. Mr Zuma said at the time the former leader was in 'good shape', but he appeared silent and unresponsive in the footage. It followed an earlier stint in hospital in December 2012 after Mr Mandela developed a lung infection and gallstones. South Africans yesterday told of their hopes that Mr Mandela would recover from his latest setback. 'He is going to survive,' said Willie Mokoena, a gardener in Johannesburg. 'He's a strong man.' Another city resident, Martha Mawela, said she thought the former president would recover because: 'Everybody loves Mandela.' Mr Mandela's forgiving spirit and belief in racial reconciliation helped hold South Africa together at a time of extreme tension in the run up to elections in 1994. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was imprisoned for 27 years by the racist white regime, became the first democratically elected president of South Africa in that year. Some of them feel he made too many concessions to the white minority in the post-apartheid settlement. Despite more than 10 years of policies aimed at redressing the balance, whites still control much of the economy and an average white household earns six times more than a black one. 'Mandela has gone a bit too far in doing good to the non-black communities, really in some cases at the expense of (blacks),' Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 89, said in a documentary aired on South African television this month. 'That's being too saintly, too good, too much of a saint.' Mr Mandela stepped down as president in 1999 and has not been politically active in a decade.