Doctors treating Nelson Mandela denied a report the former South African president was in a "permanent vegetative state" after a legal document leaked to the press describing the elderly statesman's health status as dire.
"We confirm our earlier statement released this afternoon after President Jacob Zuma visited Madiba in hospital that Madiba remains in a critical, but stable condition," Zuma's office said in a "clarification" Thursday night. "The doctors deny that the former President is in a vegetative state."