South Africans pray for Mandela recovery

A boy walks past a mural painted outside the house former South African President Nelson Mandela once lived in, in Johannesburg's Alexandra township June 9, 2013. REUTERS/Mujahid Safodien

SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africans prayed for Nelson Mandela's recovery on Sunday as the 94-year-old former president spent a second day in hospital with a recurring lung infection.

Mandela, a global symbol of triumph over adversity and of reconciliation who became South Africa's first black leader in 1994 after the defeat of apartheid, was hospitalised early on Saturday when his already frail health worsened.