S.Africans light candles for 'stable' Mandela

JOHANNESBURG — South Africans lit candles and prayed for Nelson Mandela at church services around the country Sunday as officials said the anti-apartheid hero was in stable condition and resting at home.

A national campaign promoted by a group of media organisations encouraged South Africans to "Light a Candle of Hope" for Mandela's recovery from an acute respiratory infection.

Officials said Mandela, 92, was still in stable condition at his home in Johannesburg after being discharged following a two-day hospital stay that had the world on edge over the health of one of its most beloved icons.

At the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto, the township where Mandela lived before being jailed by the apartheid state, provincial premier Nomvula Mokonyane led a candle-lighting ceremony and thanked Madiba -- the clan name by which Mandela is affectionately known -- for his sacrifices for the country.

"We now pray that Madiba lives for another moment. We pray that God blesses the hands of those who are looking after him," she said.

"Thank you Madiba for sacrificing your life for us."

At Rosebank Union Church, several kilometres from Mandela's Johannesburg home, Pastor Ndaba Mazabane also prayed for Mandela's health and praised his historic role in leading the process of reconciliation after the fall of white-minority rule in South Africa.

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