Ailing Mandela making steady progress'

PRETORIA, South Africa, April 3 (UPI) -- Nelson Mandela, 94, South Africa's first black president, is steadily improving in his recovery from a recurring lung infection, government officials said.

"President Nelson Mandela continues to make steady improvement in hospital," a statement issued by the office of President Jacob Zuma said Wednesday. "His doctors say he continues to respond satisfactorily to treatment and is much better now than he was when he was admitted to hospital on [March 27]."

The statement said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been visited by family and "continues to make steady progress."

The hospitalization is Mandela's fourth in just more than two years.