South Africans sing, pray for Nelson Mandela

Johannesburg: Members of a South African choir prayed and sung outside a hospital where Nelson Mandela, the country's former president, is reported to be in critical condition.

In addition to the choir from the Salvation Army, other people arrived yesterday to deliver flowers and messages of support for 94-year-old Mandela at the hospital in Pretoria, the South African capital.

Members of the youth league of the country's ruling party, the African National Congress, were planning prayer meetings yesterday to honor the anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

President Jacob Zuma has canceled a trip to Mozambique in an indication of heightened concern about Mr Mandela, whose health deteriorated last weekend.