His eldest daughter, Zenani, who is South Africa’s ambassador to Argentina, as well as his daughter Makaziwe and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and current wife Graca Machel have visited him almost daily.
Van Heerden believes however that “Mandela is a very lonely man.”
He said he would have loved to see some of his friends from the struggle days allowed access to him.
“When he was at home he should have been allowed visits from old friends, but they were not allowed,” he said.
“Surely, measures can be put in place if they fear that people from the outside might bring infections.”
Last week Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj denied media reports that his family had issued an order limiting the flow of visitors at Mandela’s bedside, including leaders of the ruling ANC.
Maharaj said authorities wanted “to create a conducive environment for his recovery”.
It is Mandela’s fourth hospital stay since December, leading to a growing acceptance that the much-loved father of the “Rainbow Nation” may be nearing the end of his life.
Although Mandela has long since left the political stage and has not been seen in public since 2010, he remains a towering symbol in South African public life.
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