Pretoria , South Africa ( CNN ) -- The former wife of Nelson Mandela visited him Sunday in the hospital where the ailing anti-apartheid icon is clinging to life , the South African Press Association reported . Winnie Madikizela-Mandela , who was married to the former South African president from 1958 to 1996 , described what it 's like to see her former husband of 38 years struggle to live in an exclusive interview with UK network ITV News . `` It is extremely painful to see him going through what he 's going through now . But it 's God 's wish , '' Winnie Mandela told ITV . Nelson Mandela , 94 , remains in critical but stable condition at a Pretoria hospital where he has been battling a recurring lung infection since June 8 . Opinion : In an African slum , talking to Mandela . His condition worsened last week with family members saying his health was `` delicate '' and `` anything is imminent . '' But daughter Zindzi Mandela told ITV between hospital visits that her father is alert and recognizes when a new person enters his hospital room . `` The one time he did speak was to tell my mom to sit down ... because she was standing at the edge of his bed , '' she said , laughing . As his condition has deteriorated , South Africans have gathered outside the hospital , praying , lighting candles and leaving notes for the man they refer to as `` tata , '' the Xhosa word for father . Those tributes continued Sunday as a Salvation Army band played hymns near the hospital and well-wishers gathered to be close to their beloved Madiba . Winnie Mandela shot down any suggestion that the family was discussing whether to end life support . `` It was nonsense to suggest we needed to take a decision to pull the tubes , '' she told ITV . Obama challenges students to follow Mandela legacy . Mandela became an international figure while enduring 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid , the country 's system of racial segregation . He was elected the nation 's first black president in 1994 , four years after he was freed . Even as he has faded from the spotlight , he remains popular and is considered a hero of democracy worldwide . The front page of South Africa 's Sunday Times earlier this month carried the headline `` It 's time to let him go , '' quoting a longtime friend of the former president as saying the time may have come for South Africans to say goodbye . `` Once the family releases him , the people of South Africa will follow . We will say thank you , God , you have given us this man , and we will release him too , '' friend Andrew Mlangeni told the paper . But Zindzi Mandela told ITV that what happens now is out of the family 's hands . `` When people say the family must let go , and we say let go of what ? In fact he is deciding what 's happening with himself . It 's between him and his maker . It 's not to do with us whatsoever , '' she said . CNN 's Faith Karimi and Samira Said contributed to this report .
Zimbabwe - President Nelson Mandela says former husband 's injuries are ` ` extremely painful '' to her . She visited him Sunday at the hospital where he has been receiving treatment since June 8 . His daughter says his health is now ` ` between him and his family ''