Mandela rests at home

A pebble with a message to former President Nelson Mandela lays outside his Johannesburg home Thursday, Dec. 27 2012. Mandela was released Wednesday from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said. (AP Photo/Denis farrell)

JOHANNESBURG — The doctors treating former South African leader Nelson Mandela believe he should remain in Johannesburg for now to be close to medical facilities that can provide care to the 94-year-old.

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said Thursday that doctors think it is “necessary and good” that Mandela, who was released from a hospital Wednesday evening, stay in his home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton.

Maharaj spoke to eNCA, a South African television news channel.

In recent years, Mandela has lived in the village of Qunu in Eastern Cape province, where he grew up. Mandela, a leader of the struggle against apartheid, was admitted Dec. 8 to a hospital, where he was treated for a lung infection and also had a procedure to remove gallstones.