MANDELA

Nelson Mandela, the revered anti-apartheid hero, spent a third night in hospital after South Africa prayed for him on Sunday amid calls for his family and nation to "let him go".

JOHANNESBURG: Nelson Mandela, the revered anti-apartheid hero, spent a third night in hospital after South Africa prayed for him on Sunday amid calls for his family and nation to "let him go".

Government officials have given no update on his health since announcing that the 94-year-old was admitted early Saturday and was in a "serious but stable" condition with a recurring lung infection.

"I've seen my father and he's well. He's a fighter," his daughter Zindzi told The Guardian newspaper on 

Sunday.

But South Africans are beginning to come to terms with the mortality of their first black president and father of the "Rainbow Nation", following a string of recent health scares.

The Sunday Times newspaper's stark front page headline was: "It's time to let him go".

It is the fourth hospital stay since December for the Nobel peace prize laureate, who turns 95 next month, after he was discharged in April following treatment for pneumonia.

Although the government has not identified the hospital treating Mandela, family members were seen leaving a heart clinic in Pretoria where a large media camp is gathered.

"We wish Madiba a speedy recovery, but I think what is important is that his family must release him," Mandela's long-time friend Andrew Mlangeni, 87, told the Sunday Times, using his clan name.

"Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too," said the former apartheid era prisoner, who was jailed for life alongside Mandela in 1964.

Mandela is revered as a global symbol of forgiveness following his release from 27 years in prison during white minority rule and his latest hospitalisation has triggered outpourings of concern across the globe.

He has not been seen in public since the World Cup final in July 2010.

Song filled the morning air at the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, a key flashpoint in the anti-apartheid struggle, as worshippers prayed for their hero.

"I mean Tata is 94. At 94 what do you expect?" said churchgoer Sannie Shezi, 36, using an affectionate term meaning father.

"He lived his life, he worked for us. All we can say is God help him. If things happen they will happen, but we still love him."

Mandela's third wife Graca Machel has been at his hospital bedside after calling off a trip to a London conference.

While Twitter users expressed sadness and urged a quick recovery, they were also prepared for the worst.

"Madiba has served us well, a real blessing a definition of a leader but it's time to let him Go. We can't hold on forever," said one tweet.

While the official description of his health as serious was unusually sombre, presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj told AFP on Saturday that Mandela was breathing on his own.

"The truth of the matter is a simple one. Madiba is a fighter and at his age as long as he is fighting, he'll be fine," he said.

South Africa's cricket star AB de Villiers joined world figures, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and the White House, in sending best wishes for Mandela.

"He's a legend in our country," he said on a tour in England, voicing hope that Mandela would recover soon and "maybe even get that big 100 when it comes to birthdays".

Mandela was being treated at his Johannesburg home when his condition worsened and he was taken to hospital in Pretoria at 1:30 am Saturday (2330 GMT Friday).

South African pulmonologist Guy Richards told AFP that recurring pneumonia was rare unless there was previous lung damage.

"For example if you had tuberculosis, then often those damaged areas will be colonised with bacteria which are able to cause recurrent infections," he said.

Mandela was diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 and also has had treatment for prostate cancer and suffered stomach ailments.

In December, Mandela spent 18 days in hospital, his longest as a free man.

In March he was admitted for a scheduled overnight check-up before returning later that month for 10 days with pneumonia.

Zuma in March appeared to prepare the nation for Mandela's passing, saying it "should be thinking about" his going home.

Controversial television footage in April showed a frail, distant and unsmiling Mandela being visited at home by ANC leaders, sparking accusations that his party was exploiting him.

The ruling African National Congress -- facing 2014 elections -- has lost much of its Mandela shine amid widespread corruption, poverty and poor public services.

After serving just one term as president, Mandela turned his energy to AIDS and conflict resolution, before stepping out of the public eye a decade ago at the age of 85.