10-y-o hails Mandela as greatest president

PRETORIA, (AP):

The spelling and grammar need work, but the message has its own eloquence.

A 10-year-old's note to Nelson Mandela, the prisoner who fought South African apartheid, or white racist rule, and became a global emblem of unity and humility, addresses him as "the greates president are land has ever had it is realy bad that you are in the hospital. But realy cool that you stopt apartit. you maid are land A beter place"

It is one of hundreds of messages that have been placed at two makeshift shrines by South Africans and others who are celebrating the life and legacy of Mandela, 94, even as some openly lament that his life may be approaching an end.

The South African government said yesterday that Mandela remains in "critical but stable" condition in the hospital where he was admitted on June 8.

'The greates president are land has ever had.'