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Mbeki predicts Mandela will be discharged soon

SOUTH Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki has said he expects Nelson Mandela to be discharged from a Pretoria hospital soon to recuperate at home.

Mr Mbeki, right, was speaking at a memorial lecture for former African National Congress president Zaccheus Mahabane on Saturday when he predicted that Mr Mandela would be going home, South Africa's Eyewitness News reported.

Mr Mandela has been in hospital for more than five weeks for a recurring lung infection, sparking an outpouring of support in South Africa and internationally. Friends who have visited him said he was on life support in the form of mechanical ventilation. The most recent official update on his health said Mr Mandela was in critical but stable condition. The anti-apartheid hero spent 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa's first democratically elected president in 1994. He turns 95 on Thursday.