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.