South Africans are holding a vigil outside Mandela's former Soweto house
South Africans have been holding an all-night prayer vigil for former
President Nelson Mandela, outside his former home in Soweto.
The crowd have been singing and saying prayers for Mandela's health, on what is now his 20th night in hospital.
South Africa's first black president - an icon of the anti-apartheid struggle - is suffering from a lung infection.
President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday that the 94-year-old's condition had improved, but still remained critical.
"He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night," Zuma said after speaking to Mandela's medical team.
Zuma cancelled a visit to Mozambique to visit Mandela in hospital.
Meanwhile Mandela's daughter Makaziwe said he was "still there" and responding to touch.
But she accused some journalists of being like vultures, waiting for her father to die.
Emotional crowds gathered outside the hospital, adding messages of support for Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba.
Children released 94 balloons - one for every year of the ex-president's life - into the air in his honour.
Correspondents say South Africans now seem resigned to the prospect of his death.
"We don't like seeing Mandela going through so much pain, he has had a
tough time in his life and he's gone through a lot of struggle. I think
this struggle should get over sooner," Khulile Mlondleni told Reuters
news agency.
"We are all going to feel bad when he passes [away], but at the same
time we will be celebrating his life. He has done so many great things
for this country," said 25-year-old John Ndlovu, quoted by the agency.
As crowds prayed in Soweto on Thursday evening, South Africa's ruling
African National Congress (ANC) said it would hold vigils each day that
the former leader remained in hospital.
US President Barack Obama, who is in Senegal, described Mandela as "a hero for the world".
"His legacy will linger on through the ages," he said.
After visiting her grandfather in hospital on Wednesday, Ndileka Mandela said it was an anxious time for the family.
"He's stable and we'd like to say that we thank everybody for giving
their support and praying with us... we are anxious as you know that he
is critical but he's in a stable condition right now," she said.
"It's been hard, especially because of all of this - that we have to do everything in the public eye."
Later Mandela's daughter Makaziwe said that while the situation was serious he was still responsive.
"He doesn't look good, I'm not going to lie," she said, after seeing him on Wednesday night.
"But as I say, if we speak to him, he responds and tries to open his
eyes. He's still there. He might be waning off, but he's still there,"
she told public broadcaster SABC.
She was also highly critical of the behaviour of the international media.
"There is sort of a racist element with many of the foreign national
media where they cross boundaries - it's like truly vultures waiting
[for] when the lion has devoured the buffalo… we don't mind the interest
but I just think that it has gone overboard," Ms Mandela said.
Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj also criticised some media outlets for
broadcasting unverified information, as rumours spread on social media
sites.
Meanwhile media reports say the bodies of three of Mandela's children
are to be moved from his birthplace to his home in Qunu, where he
himself has said he wants to be buried.
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