The President says Nelson Mandela's condition has improved overnight, as the icon's daughter slams media "vultures".
Well-wishers and supporters of Nelson Mandela pray, march and sing outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where the anti-apartheid hero is being treated.
Ninetly-five children release 95 balloons after praying outside the hospital.
Sky News Correspondent Alex Crawford, who has been outside the hospital, said the mood has been "celebratory".
"There seems to be a determined effort to actually celebrate what Nelson Mandela has achieved throughout his life and pay homage to the fact that he is engaged in yet another fight right to the end," Crawford said
Mr Mandela, known as Tata or Madiba, entered the Mediclinic on June 8. through for more images outside the hospital.
Nelson Mandela's daughter has hit out at "racists" and "vultures" in the media, as the presidency says the anti-apartheid icon has improved overnight.
After visiting him in his Pretoria hospital, Makaziwe Mandela said her father - who is reportedly no longer able to breathe unassisted - is still "very critical".
"Anything is imminent, but I want to emphasise again that it is only God who knows when the time to go is," she told the public broadcaster SABC.
"I won't lie, it doesn't look good. But as I say, if we speak to him, he responds and tries to open his eyes.
"He's still there. He might be waning off, but he's still there."
She also criticised the "crass" media frenzy, likening the media to vultures.
Balloons were released outside the hospital
Balloons were released outside the hospital
"It's like truly vultures waiting when a lion has devoured a buffalo, waiting there you know for the last carcasses, that's the image that we have as a family," she said.
"And we don't mind the interest but I just think that it has gone overboard."
She also accused the foreign media of "a racist element" by crossing cultural boundaries.
"They violate all boundaries," she said.
"Is it because we're an African country that people just feel they can't respect any laws of this country, they can violate everything in the book? I just think it's in bad taste, it's crass."Mandela pictures are hung up at a mass prayer meeting at a Cape Town school
Her comments come as South African President Jacob Zuma also visited Mr Mandela, saying the ailing former leader remained critical but stable.
"He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night. The medical team continues to do a sterling job," Mr Zuma said in a statement.
The President abruptly cancelled a trip to Mozambique after making a late night visit to the revered former leader.
It is the first time Mr Zuma has scrapped a public engagement since Mr Mandela entered hospital on June 8.
South Africans have been praying, singing and dancing outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital, where the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader was taken with a recurring lung infection.
Crowds have been singing and dancing outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital
Crowds have been singing and dancing outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital
Sky News Correspondent Alex Crawford, who is outside the hospital, said the mood is celebratory.
A group of children released 95 white balloons after praying for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
"There seems to be a determined effort to actually celebrate what Nelson Mandela has achieved throughout his life and pay homage to the fact that he is engaged in yet another fight right to the end," Crawford said.
US President Barack Obama, who is in Senegal for his first significant tour of Africa, has paid tribute to Mr Mandela, saying he is a "hero for the world" whose legacy will live on throughout the ages.
Mr Obama is planning to visit South Africa on Friday as part of his African tour.
Mr Obama says Mr Mandela is a "hero for the world"
Mr Obama says Mr Mandela is a "hero for the world"
The White House has said that it will defer to Mr Mandela's family over whether the President would visit his political hero in hospital.
The two men met in 2005 when Mr Obama was a newly elected senator and the former South African president was in Washington and have spoken by telephone since.
They have not met in person since then, although Michelle Obama met with Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011.
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