Pretoria - Gauteng Cosatu officials paid their respects to former president Nelson Mandela at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) provincial chairman Phutas Tseki led the group, wearing red union T-shirts, in singing hymns and struggle songs at the hospital.
“We are here to visit our leader, our father, our icon and our president Nelson Mandela. We wish him a speedy recovery,” said Tseki.
The group prayed, held hands and sang: “Solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong”, then marched down Celliers Street singing liberation songs before dispersing.
Passers-by continued to take pictures of themselves in front of the wall of well-wishes which had been left for Mandela since he was admitted to hospital on June 8 with a recurring lung infection.
On Monday, the presidency said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was still in a critical, but stable condition. In a statement, President Jacob Zuma thanked everyone who had kept Mandela and his family in their thoughts and prayers. - Sapa