Nelson Mandela 'fine' after undergoing investigative surgery In statements issued Saturday, the day Mandela was admitted, Zuma said Mandela "has had a long-standing abdominal complaint" that doctors wanted to investigate, was in no danger, and was expected to go home on Sunday or Monday. Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term. He has officially retired and last appeared in public in July 2010. On Sunday, well-wishers prayed for Mandela at Regina Mundi church in Soweto, a former centre of anti-apartheid protests and funerals. In 1997, Mandela spoke at the church, calling it a "battlefield between forces of democracy and those who did not hesitate to violate a place of religion with tear gas, dogs and guns."