Former South African president Nelson Mandela “is in good spirits and well” after being hospitalised on Saturday with a long-standing abdominal complaint, a report said.
“I can assure you that the former president is in good spirits and well,” South African presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told the private eNews channel.
Mandela was admitted to an undisclosed hospital on Saturday morning after doctors felt he needed specialist medical attention.
“I do not want to go into any of those details because we wish to ensure privacy for president Mandela's family and himself,” said Maharaj.
The beloved anti-apartheid icon returned to his Johannesburg home last month from his rural home village in the Eastern Cape, 800 km from Johannesburg, where he moved after a health scare last year.
His last public appearance was at the final of the football World Cup hosted by South Africa in July 2010.
A handful of photographers and journalists were milling around outside One Military hospital in Pretoria following news that former president Nelson Mandela had been hospitalised.
The Presidency has declined to name the hospital where he was admitted to on Saturday with a stomach ailment.
Spokesman Mac Maharaj said: "President Jacob Zuma wishes to advise that... Mandela was admitted to hospital today, 25 February 2012.
"Madiba has had a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention."
There was no sign of any additional security officials being deployed outside the military hospital in Pretoria.
The former president has in the past been treated by a team of doctors, including Zola Dabula, the head of clinical services in the SA National Defence Force.
Last year, Mandela suffered from a respiratory infection and was treated at Milpark hospital in Johannesburg. - AFP and Sapa