S.Africa's De Klerk hospitalised

Former South African president F.W. de Klerk addresses the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin, on November 10, 2009. De Klerk will be hospitalised to receive a pacemaker Tuesday, his spokesman said, as his fellow Nobel peace laureate Nelson Mandela lies critically ill. (AFP/File)

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa's last apartheid president FW de Klerk will be hospitalised to receive a pacemaker Tuesday, his spokesman said, as his fellow Nobel peace laureate Nelson Mandela lies critically ill.

De Klerk cut short a visit to Europe over the weekend because of Mandela's ailing health, only to fall ill himself.

"He will be going to hospital today (Tuesday) to have a pacemaker installed," he spokesman Dave Steward told AFP.

"It's a routine procedure. He will spend the night in hospital," he added.

The 77-year-old felt dizzy after his return from Europe on Sunday and saw his physician.

"The specialist recommended immediate installation of a pacemaker," said Steward.

He will receive the device, which helps the heart beat at a normal rate, in a Cape Town hospital.

On the other side of the country 94-year-old Nelson Mandela undergoes a 25th day of treatment in a Pretoria health facility for a recurring lung infection.

He is in a critical but stable condition, the South African president's office said Monday evening.

De Klerk -- a one-time hard-liner -- dismantled white-minority rule and authorised the release of Mandela from prison in 1990, a decision that changed the course of South African history.

Sometimes-heated talks between the two and their factions in the end brought about the first all-race elections in 1994 which propelled Mandela to power.

The two men shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.