Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a stomach ailment.
President Jacob Zuma issued a brief statement in which he asked that the 93-year-old's privacy be respected. He did not say at which hospital Mr Mandela was being treated.
Mac Maharaj, Mr Zuma's spokesman, said he could not elaborate but that he would be issuing regular updates.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said his admission was not an emergency and did not involve
surgery.
"There's no need for panic," ANC spokesman Keith Khoza told South Africa's e-News channel. "It was not an emergency admission. It was planned."
An ANC source said Mr Mandela, who is popularly known by his clan name, Madiba, was "not looking serious."
The 93-year-old is expected to be discharged on Monday.
Mr Mandela, who is known to be in frail health, spent several days at Johannesburg's Milpark hospital just over a year ago with respiratory problems. Since then he has not appeared in public, and has spent his time between Johannesburg and his ancestral village of Qunu in the impoverished Eastern Cape.
Mr Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison for his fight against racist apartheid rule, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
His public appearances have become increasingly rare, and he was admitted to hospital for a few days last year with an acute respiratory infection.
Agencies