Former president Nelson Mandela was “fine”, Brigadier General Zola Dabula said outside the former president’s Houghton, Johannesburg, home on Sunday.
Dabula, who is part of the team of military medical staff monitoring Mandela’s progress, would not say more.
Mandela’s grandson Mandla was among the first to visit the former president on Sunday.
Earlier, Rivonia treason trialist Andrew Mlangeni arrived.
“He looks bright,” Mlangeni said after almost an hour with Mandela, who is recovering from a respiratory infection at his home.
“They say he is responding well to treatment and what pleased me most, he is able to recognise us,” said Mlangeni.
Like Mandela, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the struggle against apartheid.
The sprightly Mlangeni took a minute to speak to the media after his visit.
“Every now and then he opens his eyes and says ‘hello, hello, hello’,” Mlangeni said on Sunday, smiling at the way Mandela usually greeted people.
He left as relatives of Mandela’s wife Graça Machel walked over from their nearby house for a visit.
Among those seen at the house on Sunday were Mandela’s long-time aide Zelda la Grange.
There was a media frenzy on Thursday as Mandela was treated for an acute respiratory infection in Milpark Hospital — fuelled by an information blackout.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe acknowledged later that the flow of information could have been better.
Sunday newspapers have reported the vacuum of information was because of disagreements over how the matter should have been handled.
Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane offered prayers for Mandela and lit a candle of hope in a service at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church, in Soweto. – Sapa