Former South African President Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital Saturday after being treated for pneumonia, South Africa's presidency said in a statement, NBC News reported. Mandela, 94, left the hospital “following a sustained and gradual improvement in his general condition," the statement said. "The former President will now receive home based high care." Mandela was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday last week from a recurring lung infection that started in December, and on Thursday, the presidency issued a statement saying that there was a “continuous improvement in his condition.” Mandela spent 18 days in the hospital in December and was treated for a lung infection and gallstones, according to NBC News. The former anti-apartheid icon contracted tuberculosis when he was a political prisoner under the apartheid regime, resulting in a history of lung problems.
