JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa says former President Nelson Mandela is resting in his home village on his first trip since being briefly hospitalized earlier this year.

In a statement Monday, President Jacob Zuma says, “We are pleased that he is now well enough to travel.” Zuma says Mandela left Johannesburg Sunday for Qunu, in southern South Africa, accompanied by family and by medical and security personnel.

Mandela, who turns 93 in July, has retired from public life. He spent two nights in a Johannesburg hospital in January to be treated for a respiratory infection.

Mandela became the country’s first black president after serving 27 years in prison for his fight against racist rule.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.