Nelson Mandela was given a clean bill of health and left hospital yesterday after a minor diagnostic procedure, soothing fears over the beloved South African nonagenarian’s health.

The doctors have assured us that there is nothing to worry about and that Mr Mandela is in good health

The former president was hospitalised on Saturday for a keyhole operation to investigate persistent abdominal discomfort, raising alarms about the man revered as the symbol of South Africa’s post-apartheid reconciliation.

“The doctors have decided to send him home as the diagnostic procedure he underwent did not indicate anything seriously wrong with him,” President Jacob Zuma’s office said in a statement.

Presidency spokesman Harold Maloka said Mr Mandela, 93, was recovering at home in the leafy Johannesburg suburb Houghton, where he returned last month from his childhood village in the Eastern Cape, some 800 kilometres from the country’s economic hub.

Mr Mandela underwent a diagnostic laparoscopy, a procedure in which doctors make small incisions in the abdomen to probe it with a tiny camera. Shortly before his discharge was announced, Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela, known affectionately as Madiba, was relaxed and comfortable after his night’s stay in hospital and was surrounded by his family.

“The doctors have assured us that there is nothing to worry about and that Mr Mandela is in good health,” Mr Zuma said.

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, whose ministry is charged with Mr Mandela’s health care, earlier said “there never was anything wrong with him” but that the investigative surgery was needed to get to the bottom of his discomfort.

“He’s fine, he is recovering from anaesthetic and he is as fine as can be at his age. He is fine and handsome,” Mr Sisulu told reporters in Cape Town, refuting reports that Mr Mandela had hernia surgery.

Norman Mabasa, chair of the South African Medical Association, said the procedure involved a “very small puncture hole”.

“You can look inside and magnify that on a screen, and as you move your probe you’re able to see the various organs to look at whether they are OK,” he said.