A TV network airs an obituary for still-alive Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela is suffering from a medical ailment but is very much alive.

However, the South African satellite network DStv made a huge blunder when a televised obituary, detailing Mandela's life aired on a weeknight.

While many TV networks will create obituaries for elderly, well known figures prior to their deaths, this live airing was not supposed to happen. Even worse, the television clip titled “Remembering Madiba 1918-2013” was featured multiple times before the mistake was caught.

Madiba is the icon’s commonly referred to tribal name. He was recently hospitalized for a lung infection. According to doctors, he continues to make steady improvement.

The network has issued a public apology for the error.

Born in 1918 in South Africa, Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1942. For two decades he campaigned for a peaceful defiance against the government’s racial policies.

He received a Nobel Peace Prize for his continued work to break the country’s segregation system. Then in 1994, Mandela became South Africa's first black president.