Former South African president, Nelson Mandela, entered the second month of his stay in hospital today and his condition was described as critical but stable.

He was admitted to the Pretoria Medi Clinic Heart Hospital for a recurring lung infection a month ago.

His friend Ahmed Kathrada, who visited recently, said Mandela was conscious but could not speak.

“Because of all these pipes, he could not communicate…It was a traumatic experience,” Kathrada told the Johannesburg-based eNews Channel Africa (eNCA).

He was asked by the family to visit the sick old friend.

Kathrada was arrested with Mandela in the famous Rivonia trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment with Mandela and the others.

He served his sentence with Mandela and was released in 1989 with other ANC leaders, including the late Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki.

Kathrada’s recent comments about the state of Mandela’s health came shortly after another anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg rejected claims that Mandela was in a vegetative state.

This was after it was claimed in court papers that Mandela is in vegetative state.

Mandela’s eldest daughters, Makaziwe, had asked the court to intervene and order Thembu chief and Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, to return the remains of Mandela’s three children from Mvezo to Qunu.

Goldberg confirmed that Mandela is “not in a vegetative state, as claimed” in recent court papers.

“He is clearly a very ill man, but he was conscious and he tried to move his mouth and eyes when I talked to him,” Goldberg one of the men who was convicted with Mandela, told AFP.

“He is definitely not unconscious,” Goldberg said, adding that “he was aware of who I was.”

According to AFP, Goldberg said he was asked by Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, to pay him a visit “just to give him mental stimulation.”