Natasha Thahane asks the nation to pray for granddad Desmond Tutu

Former Skeem Saam actress Natasha Thahane has pleaded with South Africans to prayer for her grandfather Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, as he undergoes surgery on Wednesday.

News of The Arch's hospitalisation, ahead of the minor surgical procedure, was confirmed by his family this week in an official statement.

The statement was reposted by his granddaughter, actress Natasha Thahane, on Tuesday. In the post, Natasha asked South Africans to keep her grandfather in their prayers.

"Please join us wherever you are to say a prayer for Khulu," Natasha wrote next to a copy of the statement.

Her plea comes as The Arch continues his lengthy battle with a stubborn infection that has seen him in and out of hospital for the last few months.

Late last week, Times Livereported that Tutu's family had said he had been discharged from hospital, only for the family to issue a statement a few days later revealing that he had been re-admitted.

In this latest statement the family assured the nation that Tutu was responding "well to treatment in a Cape Town hospital" and that he was set to "undergo a small surgical procedure on Wednesday to address the root cause of the infections".