Former South Africa President, Nelson Mandela is suffering from acute lung infection and has been hospitalized since Saturday. Mandela has been admitted to a military hospital near Pretoria and is undergoing continuous treatment, reports Herald Sun.

 "Madiba is receiving appropriate treatment and he is responding to the treatment," presidential spokesperson, Mac Maharaj told the Herald Sun. By 'Madiba', Maharaj was referring to what Mandela was called with affection and also his clan name.

Graça Machel, Mandela's wife told The Telegraph that it was excruciating to see the great leader "ageing."

"I mean, this spirit and this sparkle, you see that somehow it's fading,"

"To see him ageing, it's something also which pains you ... You understand and you know it has to happen," she said to The Telegraph in her first interview after Mandela got admitted to the hospital.

Ndikela Mandela, granddaughter of the ailing leader told the TV network "I think he takes it in his strides, he has come to accept that it's part of growing old, and its part of humanity as such. At some point you will be dependent on someone else, he has come to embrace it."

Mr. Mandela was last hospitalized in February at Johannesburg to undergo a minor surgery. He had spent two nights in a hospital in January 2011 due to a respiratory infection, as reported by the Telegraph

Mandela has been a great leader and has contributed volumes to bring the country together. The nation prays for him and wishes him the best.