Songs and prayer for Mandela

Well wishers outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated, offered song and prayer for the ailing anti-apartheid hero.

Mandela is now spending his 30th consecutive day in hospital, and is said by the South African government to be in a critical but stable condition.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNKNOWN SOUTH AFRICAN CHURCH GROUP MEMBER, SAYING:

"A prayer to Tata Mandela, the international icon. Somebody who taught us what unity is."

Mandela is receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection, his fourth hospitalisation in six months.

The failing health of 94-year-old Mandela, a figure admired globally as a symbol of struggle against injustice and racism, has reinforced a realisation that the father of the post-apartheid South Africa will not be around for ever.