Relieved South Africa critical of silence on Mandela’s health

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JOHANNESBURG – After heaving a sigh of relief at the news that Nelson Mandela had been discharged from hospital, South Africans turned to asking Saturday why there had been a two-day shroud of silence on his health. Mandela was discharged from Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg on Friday, ending almost 48 hours of anxiety that began Wednesday afternoon when his foundation said the 92-year-old anti-apartheid hero was in hospital for “routine tests”.
When the government finally broke the official news blackout around his condition – announcing that he had been treated for a respiratory infection but was in stable condition and about to return home – Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe admitted the situation “could have been handled differently”.
“Once the health professionals, doctors and the surgeon-general who are looking after his health indicate that he is to be hospitalised, we should be able to communicate that up front. We will do that in future,” he said. Lack of planning and the difficulty of coordinating the multitude of voices around Mandela – his family, his foundation, his military medical team, the government and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – combined to create the communication break-down.
“Before the (Friday) press conference, a communication protocol had not been formalised,” Mandela Foundation spokesman Sello Hatang told AFP. During the two-day blackout, he said, “consultations went on among the different stakeholders about what is to be communicated by whom.