Johannesburg ( CNN ) -- South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela successfully underwent hernia surgery Saturday , a family member told CNN Saturday . Mandela was `` comfortable '' and in `` a satisfactory condition '' Saturday , said the South African president , who referred to the medical event only as `` a planned procedure . '' The 93-year-old likely will be discharged within the next two days , a Mandela relative told CNN . Considered the founding father of South Africa 's democracy , Mandela became an international figure when he endured 27 years in prison for fighting racial segregation . He was freed in 1990 , and three years later , he and then-South African President F.W . de Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize . In 1994 , Mandela was elected president , serving only one term as he had promised . On Saturday , President Jacob Zuma said Mandela was being treated for a `` longstanding abdominal complaint . '' The president referred to Mandela by his affectionate clan name Madiba . `` Madiba is fine and fully conscious and the doctors are satisfied with his condition , which they say is consistent with his age , '' Zuma said in a statement Saturday afternoon . `` He was in good health before admission in hospital but doctors felt the complaint needed a thorough investigation . He underwent a diagnostic procedure as part of his ongoing medical management . We are happy that he is not in any danger and thank the doctors for their hard work and professionalism , '' Zuma said . A government official assured the public that Mandela 's hospital stay was not an emergency . `` People need not panic . This was planned ... Mandela has had abdominal pains for sometime , '' said Keith Khoza , a spokesman for the ruling African National Congress . Officials and family declined to name the hospital where the former president is undergoing treatment . Mandela last appeared in public in the closing ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . He was hospitalized last year for treatment of an acute respiratory infection , and continued to receive treatment at home after doctors discharged him . Despite his rare appearances , Mandela retains his popularity and is considered a hero of democracy here . He spent 27 years in prison after being convicted of sabotage and attempts to overthrow the former apartheid regime . In a life fighting the racism of apartheid he went from being considered a terrorist to jailed freedom fighter to nation builder to elder statesman respected in the world 's capitals . Clint Eastwood 's 2009 film `` Invictus , '' starring Morgan Freeman as Mandela , dramatizes Mandela 's nation-healing presidency in the 1990s . Mandela relocated to his childhood town of Qunu last year , but moved back to his Johannesburg home earlier this year . At the time , Zuma said the move was because the home in his boyhood town was undergoing maintenance . Members of the public can send messages to Mandela through President Zuma to president @ po.gov.za , officials said . CNN 's Nadia Bilchik , Faith Karimi and Michael Martinez contributed to this report .
Mandela is `` comfortable '' and in `` a satisfactory condition , '' president says . Mandela had an operation for a hernia , relative says . President says he has been to the hospital before but didn't see him there today. The former president last appeared in public in 2010 .