Nelson Mandela, 70, the imprisoned South African black leader, has shown improvement since he was hospitalized for a lung ailment, a doctor said Sunday. Dr. J. G. L. Strauss, medical superintendent at Tygerberg Hospital, said a biopsy of lung tissue showed ”no evidence of malignancy, only a chronic inflammatory condition” of the lung lining. Strauss said Mandela was ”responding to treatment (and) is without pain.” Mandela, sentenced in 1964 to life in prison for plotting to end white-minority rule, was transferred from Pollsmoor Prison to the hospital Friday. His wife, Winnie, visited him Saturday after he underwent an operation to drain fluid from his lungs, Strauss said. Mandela`s lawyer, Ismail Ayob, said Winnie Mandela was shocked at her husband`s appearance. Strauss said Mandela is ”responding to treatment (and) is without pain.”
