Nelson Mandela is well and there is no reason to fear for his health, South Africa's deputy president has said.
Using the anti-Apartheid icon's clan name, Kgalema Motlanthe told a news conference: "Madiba is well".
The 92-year-old former president was admitted to hospital on Wednesday.
South Africa's surgeon-general said Mandela will be discharged after treatment for an acute respiratory infection.
Several members of Mandela's family, including his wife Graca Machel, visited the hospital after his admission, according to witnesses.
Police were called in to control traffic at the Milpark Hospital in a leafy Johannesburg suburb as scores of journalists, photographers and television crews converged on it.
Mandela retired from public life in June 2004 before his 86th birthday, telling his compatriots: "Don't call me, I'll call you."
He made a brief appearance at the soccer World Cup final in July last year but since then has rarely appeared in public and when he did, he appeared increasingly frail.
Mandela was treated in the 1980s for tuberculosis and later had an operation to repair damage to his eyes. In 2001 he had treatment for prostate cancer.
