Ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela is putting up a courageous fight from his "deathbed", his daughter Makaziwe Mandela has said.

Mr Mandela, 95, is receiving home-based medical care after being discharged from hospital in September following treatment for a recurring lung infection.

Makaziwe Mandela told national broadcaster SABC: "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.

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"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."

The anti-apartheid icon spent almost three months in a Pretoria hospital after being admitted in June with a recurring lung infection.

The office of the South African 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.