Nelson Mandela 'responds to treatment but remains in critical condition' Government statement said Mandela's health 'remains much the same' Released after President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela's home today Is the first official update on the former president's health since September when the 95-year-old was released from hospital following a lung infection Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's said this week her former husband remains 'quite ill' and can only communicate through facial expressions Official update: The South African government have today said former president Nelson Mandela remains in a 'stable but critical' condition Nelson Mandela remains in a 'stable but critical' condition and 'continues to respond to treatment', the South African government has said today. The statement, the first official update on the former president's condition since he left hospital in September, said: 'The health of the former president remains much the same.' It was released after President Jacob Zuma visited Mr Mandela at his home today. The 95-year-old is still receiving intensive care at home after being discharged from hospital on September 1. He was admitted three months earlier for a lung infection. The government has largely refused to give details about Mr Mandela's condition, citing the need for privacy, but said today 'he continues to recover'. Mr Mandela's oldest grandson, Mandla Mandela, who visited the former statesman on Sunday, said he found him in a 'good state. 'He is still progressing steadily but very much under a critical condition,' Mandla Mandela told reporters. However, Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela this week told a local newspaper that he remains 'quite ill' and is unable to speak because of tubes being used to clear his lungs of liquid. He is using facial expressions to communicate, Ms Madikizela-Mandela added. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is under the care of 22 doctors. While his pneumonia has cleared, his lungs remain sensitive, Ms Madikizela-Mandela said, adding that it was 'difficult for him'. He remains very sensitive to any germs, so he has to be kept literally sterile. The bedroom there is like an ICU (intensive care unit) ward,' she told the Sunday Times. He remains quite ill, but thank God the doctors were able to pull him through from that (last) infection. His lung problems date back to his time in jail when he was diagnosed with early stage tuberculosis. Mr Mandela, who spent 27 years in apartheid jails before becoming South Africa's first black leader, has faced several health scares. Infection: Mandela was discharged from hospital, where he had been for three months, on September 1 and taken by ambulance, pictured, to his home in Johannesburg where he receives intensive care His most recent 86-day hospital stay was his longest since he walked free from prison in 1990. Mr Mandela has been in and out of hospital since last year with lung-related complications. A globally admired figure for steering South Africa peacefully into democracy, Mandela's health problems prompted outpourings of well wishes around the world. South Africa's presidency said Zuma had conveyed the well wishes of South Africans and of leaders who attended a recent Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka. Zuma, according to his office, also told Mandela that he was 'looking forward' to officially opening the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory later in the day. Concern: The Nobel Peace Prize winner's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, pictured, said this week that Mandela remains 'quite ill' and can only communicate through facial expressions The president will inaugurate a multi-purpose centre that will run an exhibition on the life and times of South Africa's first black leader. The centre is located within the same complex that houses the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, an upmarket suburb north of Johannesburg. November 18 marks the day, 20 years ago, when a panel of political negotiators approved an interim constitution for South Africa and an electoral bill that would clear the way for the historic 27 April 1994 polls. Two days earlier, on 16 November 1993, Mr Mandela and the last apartheid-era president, FW de Klerk, had agreed on the basic points allowing for the country's first democratic election.