Pretoria - Busloads of ANC Youth League and Women's League supporters made their way past the Pretoria hospital where former president Nelson Mandela remained in a critical condition late on Thursday afternoon.
The groups were on their way to a prayer meeting a few blocks from the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital's entrance.
There has been little activity at the facility's Park Street entrance since Madiba's children left earlier.
Police and security guards continued searching the few vehicles entering the premises.
Mandela's granddaughter Ndileka Mandela kept up the stream of family visitors to the critically-ill former president on Thursday. Another grandchild, Mandla Mandela, left a little while earlier, his vehicle nosing through the swell of well-wishers arriving to drop off get-well cards, flowers and balloons.
The presidency's announcement mid-afternoon that Mandela's condition had improved during the course of the night eased the tension brought on by no new information earlier.
According to the presidency's statement: “President Jacob Zuma visited former president Nelson Mandela in hospital in Pretoria today, June 27, and was informed by the medical team that Madiba's condition has improved during the course of the night.
“He remains critical, but is now stable,” spokesman Mac Maharaj said. - Sapa