Nelson Mandela admitted to hospital in South Africa Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital for treatment for a "long-standing abdominal complaint," the government said. A statement said the 93-year-old needed specialist medical treatment. We wish him a speedy recovery and assure him of the love and good wishes of all South Africans and people throughout the world. We request that all respect the privacy of Madiba and that of his family during this period. Mandela, who is known to be in frail health, spent several days at Johannesburg's Milpark hospital just over a year ago with respiratory problems. Since then he has not appeared in public, and has spent his time between Johannesburg and his ancestral village of Qunu in South Africa's impoverished Eastern Cape.