Archbishop prays for a 'peaceful, perfect end' for Nelson Mandela after visiting him in hospital

Meeting? Nelson Mandela is said to welcome the prospect of Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to South Africa

A leading clergyman visited Nelson Mandela's bedside in hospital last night to offer prayers for his 'peaceful, perfect end'.
Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of Cape Town, issued an emotional statement asking that the former president of South Africa, who is in a critical condition, be released from pain and suffering.
However, Mr Mandela apparently opened his eyes and smiled when he was told about Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to the country, according to his daughter.
Mr Makgoba posted a message on Facebook asked for courage to be granted to Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and others who love him 'at this hard time of watching and waiting'.

That prospect appeared to be more likely yesterday after Mr Mandela's daughter Zindzi described how she told her father that Mr Obama would be touring South Africa.
After she told him 'Obama is coming,' she said, 'He opened his eyes and gave me a smile.'
The U.S. President is travelling to Senegal today and will arrive in South Africa on Friday during his second trip to Africa since taking office.
Mr Mandela has been in hospital being treated for a lung infection since June 8, and over the weekend his condition was downgraded from 'serious' to 'critical'.

Close relatives of the 94-year-old yesterday held an emergency meeting at the former anti-apartheid leader's home in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape.
As fears for Mandela's health worsen, well-wishers have flocked to the hospital to leave letters, cards and flowers along the outside of the building.
Among the cards were handwritten notes from schoolchildren thanking the inspirational leader who helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa.
The security wall at the hospital has now been transformed in to a homage to Mandela - who spent 27 years in prison because of his activism.

One of the messages read: 'We love you Mandela. God bless you'.
Another read: 'We love you Tata Mandela. I am still young, I still need to see you. Get better. (From) Tino.'
Other well-wishers have travelled to Nelson Mandela's home in a Johannesburg suburb to pray for the 94-year-old.
'I will wait for Madiba to come back home. I will make sure, I'm going to pray later, and then Mandela, I hope you come. I love you Mandela,' well-wisher Thembi Magagula said outside Mandela's home in Houghton today.

It comes after the country's President Jacob Zuma urged the country to send their wishes to the man he called the 'father of democracy'.
President Zuma visited Mandela in hospital on Sunday night after his condition deteriorated.
Zuma, who in the past has given an overly sunny view of Mandela's health, briefly spoke of his visit during a recent press conference.

'It was late, he was already asleep,' Zuma said. 'And we then had a bit of a discussion with the doctors as well as his wife, Graca Machel, and we left.'
The president said South Africans should accept that Mandela is old, and he urged people to pray for their former leader.
'Madiba Zuma said, using is critical in the hospital, and this is the father of democracy. This is the man who fought and sacrificed his life to stay in prison, the longest-serving prisoner in South Africa,' Mandela's clan name. 

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president after the end of apartheid in 1994, was hospitalised for a recurring lung infection. This is his fourth hospitalisation since December.
Mandela was jailed for 27 years under white racist rule and was released 23 years ago, in 1990. He then played a leading role in steering the divided country from the apartheid era to an all-race democracy.
As a result of his sacrifice and peacemaking efforts, he is seen by many around the world as a symbol of reconciliation

Support: The flurry of support comes after President Jacob Zuma revealed Mandela's condition had worsened to critical and urged South Africans to pray for him