Global icon Nelson Mandela is not likely to be around for much longer, his distinguished fellow countryman, Bishop Desmond Tutu, has said.

Tutu, a fellow Nobel Prize winner like The Madiba, yesterday warned that South Africa should prepare for the former President’s death.

The outspoken anti-apartheid campaigner, a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop said Mandela has had rough time in recent weeks, and that it’s only God who is sparing him for all this while; but alert countrymen to brace up.
“He’s 94, he’s had a rough time, and God has been very, very good in sparing him for us these many years,” Tutu wrote in an opinion piece. “But the trauma of his passing is going to be very much intensified if we do not begin to prepare ourselves for the fact that this is going to happen at some time,” he added.
Speaking in a similar vein, African National Congress (ANC) spokesman Jackson Mthembu told Sky News that his party was “prepared for the worst” and urged “all people of world to pray for his recovery.”

Reports this afternoon have it that Mandela has been admitted to hospital in a “serious but stable” condition as a result of a lung infection.

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader has had recurring problems with his lungs since he contracted tuberculosis during his time as a political prisoner.

A statement issued by the office of South African President Jacob Zuma said Mandela had been ill for the past few days, but he was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria overnight when his condition deteriorated.

It said Mandela is receiving expert care and “doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable.”

Zuma wished Mandela a speedy recovery and asked for the media and the public to respect his privacy. Contrary to reports of Mandela’s alleged death, Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, told the BBC that the legendary politician is in “good spirits”, adding: “He is a fighter and he will be with us as long as he is there fighting.”

•Photo shows Mandela.