After an evening of last rites, vigils outside the hospital and hushed emergency family meetings, South Africa woke to another day of reports that Nelson Mandela's health was still in "critical condition."
"Former President Nelson Mandela's condition remains unchanged in hospital and doctors continue to do their best to ensure his recovery, well-being and comfort," the government wrote in a statement released Tuesday night.
According to the New York Times, supporters gathered in front of the hospital in Pretoria where Mandela is currently housed on Wednesday. Crowds stood at the iron wrought gates of Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay their respects, putting cards down on the sidewalk, hanging balloons and stuffed animals while singing songs of tribute.
"There is no one like you, Nelson Mandela," on congregation belted in the Sotho language.
One sign read, "We need you!" CNN reported from the ground.
"We love you tata, get well soon!" another said, using the Xhosa word for father in reference to Mandela.
"He's our freedom fighter," 19-year-old Gerald Moshe said at the vigil. "Without him, we'd be under apartheid. Now we can do anything."
These displays of emotion have largely been absent from the South African public's response to Mandela's dire respiratory infection. According to the New York Times, many citizens have sidestepped the conversation concerning Madiba's death, citing cultural impropriety to comment on a sickly public figure.
Now, many are speaking on what is sure to come.
"We love him, but we know that there is a time when everyone has to take a bow," said Siya Cele, a 24-year-old sales consultant who was waiting by the front of the hospital.
NPR reported that South African Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited the hospital on Tuesday to pray with the Mandela family.
"May your blessing rest upon Madiba now and always," he wrote on his Facebook page, posting the hymn he spoke for the anti-apartheid legend. "Grant him, we pray, a quiet night and a peaceful, perfect, end."
