The family of critically ill anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has gathered around his hospital bedside as fears for his health grow.

Despite intensive treatment at Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital, the 94-year-old's condition appears to have suddenly and dramatically deteriorated.

Current President Jacob Zuma told South Africans they must accept that Mandela is 'now old'.

Mandela was last seen in public in 2010 at the football World Cup finals in South Africa.

He was admitted to hospital with a recurring lung infection on June 8th.