A spokesman for South Africa's ruling party says former president Nelson Mandela's admission to a hospital in Johannesburg Saturday was planned on advice from his doctors.

Keith Khosa of the African Nation Congress said an operation is not part of Mr. Mandela's care for an ongoing stomach ailment.

Earlier Saturday, President Jacob Zuma issued a statement saying that Mr. Mandela has had “a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention.”

Mr. Zuma expressed get-well wishes from the South African people and also requested the public respect the privacy of Mr. Mandela and his family.

The 93-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has not appeared in public in recent months due to his fragile health.

Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994, ending apartheid – the all-white rule of authority.