* Mandela recovering well from “investigative laparoscopy”
* Procedure involves inserting tiny camera into abdomen
* Government denies hernia operation reports
* South Africans fear for health of first black president
By Ed Cropley
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 26 (Reuters) – 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.”
Continued…
