Wellwishers post messages outside the hospital where ailing former President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, July 5, 2013.
The South African government has denied a report that former president Nelson Mandela is in a vegetative state.
The report Thursday from the French news agency was based on court documents filed last month.
A statement from the presidency cites doctors as denying the report, and reiterates an earlier statement that Mandela remains in critical but stable condition.
The anti-apartheid icon, who is 94, has spent nearly a month in Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital.
A close friend and fellow anti-apartheid activist, Denis Goldberg, told reporters Friday that when he visited Mandela earlier in the week, the former president was conscious. Goldberg said that Mandela was responsive to what he was saying.
The court documents stemmed from a legal dispute within the Mandela family over where three of Mandela's deceased children should be buried.
The three bodies were moved back to their original burial site in Mandela's hometown of Qunu on Thursday, after a court order.
In Pretoria Friday, well-wishers chanted songs and released balloons outside the hospital to show support for the ailing former president.
Mandela is revered in South Africa and beyond for his role in ending official racial discrimination and white minority rule. After spending 27 years in prison, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and was elected South Africa's first black president the following year.
Crowds Gather Outside Nelson Mandela's Hospital
1/11Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, holds a candle during a prayer service for the ailing Mandela at a church in Johannesburg, July 5, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
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2/11Ndaba Mandela (R), one of former South African President Nelson Mandela's grandsons, and an unidentified companion leave the Mediclinic Heart Hospital, where the former president is being treated, in Pretoria, July 5, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
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3/11Well-wishers pray in support of ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela in front of the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated in Pretoria, July 5, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
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4/11Daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, leaves after visiting the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, July 5, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
Show moreShow less
5/11Well-wishers post messages outside the hospital where ailing former President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, July 5, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
Show moreShow less
6/11A well-wisher weeps as he pays his respects outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital, where ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, July 1, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
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7/11Boys hold a candle as they pay their respects outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital, where ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, July 1, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
Show moreShow less
8/11Men stand next to a banner covered with portraits of Nelson Mandela to a wall outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, June 28, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
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9/11A well-wisher pays respect to ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, June 27, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
Show moreShow less
10/11Granddaughters Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway and Tukwini Mandela are surrounded by the media outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, June 27, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
Show moreShow less
11/11Children release 95 white balloons to mark the upcoming birthday of ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, June 27, 2013.
Crowds of well-wishers are outside Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon through posters, songs and prayer.
Show moreShow less
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Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
