South Africans devote Easter Sunday prayers to Mandela

South Africans prayed on Sunday for the swift recovery of the former South African president Nelson Mandela who is spending his fourth day in hospital due to a lung infection.

Crowds gathered for Easter Sunday mass in the Regina Parish in Soweto where they prayed for the ailing Mandela to leave hospital soon.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CATHOLIC PRIEST, FATHER SEBASTIAN RUSSOUW, SAYING:

"We hear that the government tells us that he's okay. That he's still undergoing treatment for his lung condition and as I say, we pray that God's healing hand may be upon him, that he knows God's closeness."

President Jacob Zuma's office said on Saturday South Africa's anti-apartheid hero is comfortable and able to breathe without problems, as he continues to respond to treatment in hospital for a recurrence of pneumonia.