URGENT -- South African government denies Mandela death report

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) -- Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, who has remained in a critical condition after suffering a recurrence of a lung infection, is alive, the South African presidency said Sunday, rejecting a statement from former U.S. President George H. W. Bush that announced his death.

"It is clearly incorrect. We see it as an error on his side, and not make a big deal about it," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said, referring to the office of Bush. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath later clarified that its statement was based on an unconfirmed media report, saying it had no "independent verification."

Mandela was discharged from hospital earlier on Sunday, but remains in a critical and at times unstable condition.

(Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)