Mandela is frail says Tutu

Former president Nelson Mandela is "frail", fellow Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu said.

"I saw him last week," Tutu told Sapa while at an anti-tuberculosis event in Guguletu, Cape Town.

"He was all right, I mean, he's 92, you know. And he's frail."

Earlier this month, a report circulated on social network Twitter that the elder statesman had died. The rumour was condemned as malicious and insensitive by the ANC.

The Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport reported that although the rumours were false, reliable sources had confirmed that Mandela's health had deteriorated.

In mid-January, a Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesman said Mandela was well and was on holiday with his wife, Graca Machel.