Nelson Mandela 'recovering well' - grandson Former South African President Nelson Mandela is "recovering well" in hospital, his grandson says. Mr Mandela is spending his eighth day in hospital in the capital, Pretoria, to receive treatment for a recurring lung infection. His grandson Mandla Mandela said the former president "looked good" when he visited him in hospital. Mr Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after leading the struggle against apartheid. He stepped down five years later. "I thank the nation and the world for the prayers for Madiba, and the doctors and the office of the ANC for keeping the family updated," Mandla Mandela said, using the former leader's clan name, according to the AFP. Mandla Mandela's comments seem to be essentially line with statements made by the South African government in recent days, balancing a reported improvement in the former leader's condition with the fact that it remains serious, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports from Johannesburg.