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.
