JOHANNESBURG (March 9, 2013)--Nelson Mandela was admitted Saturday to a hospital for a scheduled medical check-up, South Africa's presidency said.

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement that Mandela, 94, went to a hospital in Pretoria, the capital, on Saturday afternoon.

Maharaj says doctors are conducting tests and have indicated so far that there is "no reason for any alarm."

Mandela, a leader of the fight against apartheid and a former president, was hospitalized for nearly three weeks in December before returning home on Dec. 26.

At that time, he was treated for a lung infection and had a surgical procedure to remove gallstones.