The Presidency on Sunday said he will continue treatment at home, though still in critical condition.

Anti-Apartheid leader and former South African President, Nelson Mandela, yesterday, September 1, 2013, left hospital in Pretoria for his Houghton, Johannesburg home, about 55 km away. BBC quoted the Presidency as announcing on its website that Madiba will continue to receive intensive care treatment at home after being hospitalised for a lung infection on June 8, 2013.

The announcement came a day after officials denied reports that the 95-year-old was already discharged. Yesterday’s statement said Mandela’s condition remained critical and at times, unstable. According to President Jacob Zuma, a team of medical doctors was of the opinion that Mandela will receive the same level of intensive care at home like in hospital, adding that the residence had been reconfigured to allow him receive treatment by the same staff that has been looking after him since hospitalisation.

The statement however assured that if the need arose, Nelson Mandela will be readmitted to hospital. An ambulance believed to be carrying the anti-Apartheid icon arrived at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg yesterday as the press was already gathered outside, the Daily Mail newspaper said. Mandela’s condition has fluctuated since he was admitted to hospital with a lung infection. His history of lung problems dates back to his imprisonment on Robben Island. He is known to have battled respiratory infections since then.

Crowds kept a vigil outside Madiba’s hospital in Pretoria and thousands were encouraged to pray for him during hospitalisation. However, he made an unexpected recovery and sources said at the start of last month that he was well enough to enjoy the company of visitors. Mandela’s health was said to have improved so much that he was sitting up and watching television in his bed.

The frail icon has not appeared in public for years, but he retains his popularity as the father of democracy and emblem of South Africa’s fight against Apartheid. Nelson Mandela became an international figure while enduring 27 years of imprisonment for opposing Apartheid, the then system of racial segregation. He became the country's first black President in 1994, four years after release from prison. After he left office, the Nobel laureate mediated conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.