Supporters of African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela on Thursday demanded his unconditional release, saying his transfer to a house on a prison farm simply gave him a luxurious cell.
The government has been under intense domestic and international pressure to release the 70-year-old Mandela, who has been in prison since 1962."The government is playing games. He is still a prisoner, confined to the premises of a jail," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
"Let the government release him and all other political prisoners unconditionally. Then they will see the enormous influence for good, for peace and reconciliation that he will be," he said.
Mandela was transferred Wednesday night from the private Constantiaberg Clinic near Cape Town where he had recovered from tuberculosis, the government said. He was taken to a suburban-style house with a swimming pool and garden at the Victor Verster prison farm in Paarl, a scenic wine-growing town northeast of Cape Town. The government says he can have unlimited access to his wife, children and grandchildren.