Hospitalized Mandela misses grandson's initiation JOHANNESBURG
(AP) — As Nelson Mandela remains hospitalized after undergoing
surgery and recuperating from a lung infection, the 94-year-old
anti-apartheid leader missed the return of his grandson from an
initiation ceremony. Bambatha Mandela had been in the bush for
days for the ukwaluka ceremony of Mandela’s Xhosa people,
learning about the culture and ultimately undergoing a
circumcision carried out by a traditional surgeon. Footage shot
by AP Television News on Sunday showed the 23-year-old grandson
of the struggle icon wrapped in a blanket, his face painted red,
returning to their family homestead in Qunu, in South Africa’s
Eastern Cape. Men and women awaited Bambatha Mandela with meat
from a freshly slaughtered sheep. Some women sang traditional
songs, others laughed and called out to their friends. Family
members had hoped Nelson Mandela would be home for the ceremony,
but government officials say Mandela remains under care at a
hospital in South Africa’