Staff Writer
FORMER president Thabo Mbeki visited Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in hospital yesterday. Tutu was admitted to a city hospital for observation earlier this week.
Mbeki’s visit came two days after the 83-year-old was admitted to an unnamed hospital after expressing concern over renewed discomfort.
Tutu’s readmission on Tuesday was not related to his cancer treatment and, according to doctors, his prostate-specific antigen level was “pleasingly low”. His doctors considered it prudent for him to return to hospital for further observation.
Tutu’s daughter, the Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, said her father and the rest of the Tutu family had been “very moved” by the support he had received over the past few weeks from people across the world. The 83-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate had spent a week in hospital to receive treatment for a persistent infection earlier this month.
Messages of support were pouring in for Tutu from President Jacob Zuma to FW de Klerk and the Ahmed Kathrada and Nelson Mandela foundations.
He and his wife Leah celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in Cape Town and Soweto earlier this month.
Tutu was expected to be in hospital until the weekend.