Tired Mandela to scale down appearances

By David Randall

02 May 2004

The former South African president Nelson Mandela is tired and will gradually withdraw from the public spotlight to focus more on charity work and writing his autobiography, a South African newspaper reported yesterday.

The Saturday Star quoted sources close to the 85-year-old Nobel peace laureate as saying he was in good health, but "bloody tired" and wanted more time to work on the second volume of his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

Mandela, who maintains a packed schedule of domestic and overseas appearances, is currently in the Caribbean to help win backing for South Africa's bid to stage the World Cup in 2010. His spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.

The former president, who has become increasingly frail and in 2002 was treated for prostate cancer, told a Caribbean children's rally where hundreds of adults and youngsters braved morning showers to catch a glimpse of him that, "This may be my last trip abroad." One of his hosts, Jack Warner, the Trinidadian vice-president of soccer's international governing body, Fifa, said Mandela had travelled against advice from his doctors. Neither Mr Warner nor Mr Mandela gave details of his condition.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=517286