Praying for Mandela
In 2013, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and former President Nelson Mandela lay in a Pretoria hospital bed suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection. Wellwishers from across South Africa and abroad came to pay their respects, creating a wall of flowers and get well cards outside the hospital.
A timelapse video of this story is available in the Multimedia section.
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Gift Mapuka, who described himself as a "Global Mission Pioneer" from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, preaches on his own about Jesus and Nelson Mandela, in front of a wall of get-well messages and flowers left by well-wishers, outside the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, July 5, 2013. Mandela, who was hospitalized on June 8, remains in critical but stable condition according to the office of President Jacob Zuma, who visited the anti-apartheid leader on Thursday, and the president's office also said doctors denied reports that 94-year-old Mandela is in a "vegetative state." (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A well-wisher holding balloons with the face of Nelson Mandela poses for her friend to take a photograph of her in front of a banner of different photos of Mandela, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Thursday, July 18, 2013. South Africa celebrated Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday on Thursday, a milestone capped by news that the former president's health was improving after fears that he was close to death during ongoing hospital treatment. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Children from a creche pray for the health of Nelson Mandela outside the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, June 28, 2013. Nelson Mandela's health improved overnight and although his condition remains critical it is now stable, the South African government said on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A mother, right, walks to have a family photograph taken with her son, center, seen reflected in a portrait of Nelson Mandela, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Monday, July 8, 2013. There was no official update Monday morning on the health of the 94-year-old former president and anti-apartheid leader, who was admitted June 8 to the hospital for a recurring lung infection. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Children strike a pose for a relative to take a photograph of them with a cameraphone, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Thursday, July 4, 2013. The remains of Nelson Mandela's three deceased children were reburied at their original resting site on Thursday, a day after a court ordered their return two years after Mandela's grandson moved the bodies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Well-wishers raise their fists as a solidarity gesture as they pose to have their photographs taken via a tablet computer by a friend, outside the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Saturday, July 6, 2013. There was no official update Saturday morning on the condition of the 94-year-old former president, who is in critical but stable condition after being diagnosed with a recurring lung infection, but the government has said Mandela is not in a vegetative state - contrary to recent court documents. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A young member of the Maitibolo Cultural Troupe, who said they came to dance for well-wishers in honor of Nelson Mandela, poses for well-wishers to take his photograph in front of a placard of Mandela, outside the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Sunday, July 14, 2013. South Africa's radio broadcaster Eyewitness News reported on Sunday that former president Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday that he expects Nelson Mandela to soon be discharged from the hospital to recuperate at home. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Nurses from the hospital, right, wait to buy a photograph of themselves and another colleague from a street photographer who prints them out on a battery-powered printer, after the nurses walked out to have their picture taken in front of the wall of get-well messages and flowers outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Monday, July 8, 2013. There was no official update Monday morning on the health of the 94-year-old former president and anti-apartheid leader, who was admitted June 8 to the hospital for a recurring lung infection. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A young girl giggles as she shows the photograph she just took of her relative to him with his cameraphone, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Thursday, July 4, 2013. The remains of Nelson Mandela's three deceased children were reburied at their original resting site on Thursday, a day after a court ordered their return two years after Mandela's grandson moved the bodies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A street photographer who sells photographic prints to well-wishers visiting the wall of get-well messages and flowers, uses a handheld torch to illuminate them at night outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Grandson Ndaba Mandela said Tuesday that the ailing former president is very much alive and urged well-wishers to celebrate the life of the anti-apartheid leader ahead of his 95th birthday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Traditional healer Dimakatso Matjele, center, prays for Nelson Mandela after she says she received instructions from her ancestors to go and do so, while a musician from Burundi who goes by the stage name Faustino Africa, left, plays tribute songs to Mandela on his guitar, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, July 12, 2013. Nelson Mandela is responding to treatment and the 94-year-old's condition remains critical but stable after more than a month in the hospital, South Africa's president said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A group of wellwishers sing and pray for the health of Nelson Mandela at night outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, June 28, 2013. As Nelson Mandela remained in critical condition in hospital Friday, a family feud over where the 94-year-old former president should be buried went to the courts, according to South Africa's national broadcaster. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)