Mandela still critical, family discusses 'delicate matters'

Relatives of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela today gathered at his rural ancestral home in Qunu to discuss "delicate matters" relating to the 94-year-old leader who is battling for his life at a hospital.
The meeting came two days after South Africa's President Jacob Zuma gave the strongest indication yet that all is not well with the ailing elder statesman, who will turn 95 on July 18.
"Former President Mandela remains in a critical condition in hospital. The doctors are doing everything possible to ensure his well being and comfort," said Zuma after visiting Mandela at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital on Sunday.

There's been no update on the Nobel Peace Prize winner's health condition since then even as a jittery nation prayed for their charismatic leader.
Briefing media about the family gathering at Qunu in the Eastern Cape where the revered statesman spent his childhood, Napilisi Mandela, an elder in the family, said the meeting had been called to "discuss delicate matters" on Mandela.
The meeting also includes chiefs of the Abathembu royal family, with Xhosa cultural scholars saying such a meeting takes place when someone in the family is critically ill. The elder usually presides over family meetings and traditional rituals in the Mandela clan, they said.

Makaziwe Mandela, daughter of the President from his first wife Evelyn, who is also at the meeting, appealed to media to respect the family's privacy. "We haven't come to the end yet. It is only God who knows the end," she told media.

Earlier, South Africa's Presidency has accused media of crossing the boundaries of medical ethics while covering the deteriorating health condition of Mandela.
The Presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj said Mandela's privacy and dignity is at stake.
"The doctors have indicated very firmly that some of the reporting is transgressing on medicals ethics, not just in relation to doctor/patient confidentially, but in relation to the way in which doctors are being interviewed for their opinion," Maharaj was quoted as saying by local media.