Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a lung infection, BBC News reported.

The former South African president is in a "serious but stable condition", a spokesman for the current President, Jacob Zuma, says.

Mr Mandela, 94, has been ill for some days but deteriorated overnight and was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria.

Mr Mandela led the fight against apartheid, became South Africa's first black president, and is widely regarded as father of the nation.

He has recently suffered a series of health problems and this is his fifth visit to hospital in two years.

In April he was released from hospital after a 10-day stay caused by pneumonia.

His illness was described on Saturday, June 8 as a recurrence of a lung infection, which has troubled him repeatedly.