Johannesburg, July 18 : South African former president Nelson Mandela is steadily improving, the presidency said Thursday.

"Madiba (Mandela) remains in hospital in Pretoria but his doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving," Xinhua quoted an official statement as saying.

President Jacob Zuma wished the founding father of the nation a happy 95th birthday.

Outside the house of Mandela here, over 100 students from Africa International School came to sing and dance for showing their support for Madiba, as Mandela is known.

Mandela was sent to a Pretoria hospital June 8 for a serious condition of recurring lung infection.(IANS)