For three months, South Africans have been preparing themselves for the death of former leader Nelson Mandela.
Reports of the beloved politician's fragile health streamed in from both the American and African media-one moment, Madiba was in "critical condition." The next, he was "progressing, doing better." Then word came that his family members were bearing up for the worst and making arrangements for his imminent passing.
But on Sunday, 95-year-old Mandela went home.
According to the Associated Press, an ambulance escorted the leader back to his house in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton. Hospital officials said that Mandela, whose condition is still delicate, will receive the same kind of treatment at home as he got in the hospital, and from the same doctors.
Some are concerned that the leader of the anti-apartheid movement is still in poor condition, but others are hopeful.
"If he's back at home, I'm feeling free," Harrison Phiri, a gardener, told AP. "He's the father of the nation."
South African newspaper The Star published an article bearing the headline, "Madiba at Home." In it, the writer expressed "worries" over Mandela's "infection persisting."
Nelson Mandela was first admitted to a hospital in Pretoria on June 8.
During the few weeks in June that Mandela was in the worst shape, scores of supporters gathered outside the medical facility where the leader stayed, putting cards on the sidewalk, hanging balloons and stuffed animals, singing songs of tribute.
"There is no one like you, Nelson Mandela," a congregation sang in the Sotho language, holding on to the iron gates of the Mediclinic Heart Hospital.
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