JOHANNESBURG » Ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela is not "doing well" but is continuing to put up a courageous fight from his "deathbed," members of his family have told the South African Broadcasting Corporation in an interview.

His daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, told SABC television news: "Tata is still with us, strong, courageous. Even for a lack of a better word …. on his ‘deathbed’ he is teaching us lessons; lessons in patience, in love, lessons of tolerance.

"Every moment I get with him I’m amazed. There are times where I have to pinch myself that I come from this man who is a fighter even though you can see he is struggling, but fighting spirit is still there with him."

Mandela spent almost three months in a Pretoria hospital after being admitted in June with a recurring lung infection. The 95-year-old liberation struggle icon was discharged in September and has been receiving home-based medical attention since then.

Since June the Presidency has consistently described his condition as "critical but stable".

"He is still with us although he is not doing well in bed," his grandson, Ndaba Mandela, told the SABC interviewer.