Nelson Mandela was in critical condition Sunday after a deterioration in his health, and doctors “are doing everything possible” for him, South Africa’s government said.

The office of President Jacob Zuma said that on Sunday evening the president had visited Mandela, the former president of the country who was imprisoned for nearly three decades as he battled the country’s apartheid system of racial separatism.

Zuma’s office said he was informed by Mandela’s doctors that his condition had become critical in the past 24 hours.

Mandela, 94, has been in intensive care for more than two weeks. He was hospitalized on June 8 for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.

h/t/ – usatoday