Nelson Mandela has left hospital and has gone to his Johannesburg home, where he is continuing to receive intensive care, the South African presidency says on its website.
The announcement came a day after officials denied reports that the 95-year-old had already been discharged.
The statement says his condition remains critical and at times unstable.
South Africa's first democratically elected president has been in hospital since June with a lung infection.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is revered around the world for leading the fight against white minority rule and preaching reconciliation with the white community despite being imprisoned for 27 years.
"His team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria [hospital]," the statement from President Jacob Zuma's says.
It adds that Mr Mandela's home in the suburb of Houghton has been "reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there" and he will be treated by the same health care personnel who have been looking after him since 8 June.
If necessary, he will be readmitted to hospital, the presidency says.
Despite his various illnesses, the statement from Mr Zuma's office notes, the former president had displayed "immense grace and fortitude".
The South African government has released few details about his condition, appealing for Mr Mandela's privacy and dignity to be respected.
The source disclose that Andrew Harding, in South Africa says this is not the discharge of a man who has made a significant recovery but the transfer of a patient from an intensive care ward in a hospital to a specially built intensive care unit in his own home, presumably in line with his family's wishes.
But he notes that some people will take some encouragement from the fact that his doctors have said he was fit enough to make the 55km-journey (34 miles) and says such a decision will not have been taken lightly.
"It is a day of celebration for us, that he is finally back home with us," said his grandson Mandla Mandela.
On Saturday, sources close to Mr Mandela told the BBC and other international media that he had already returned home.
This was denied by South Africa's presidency, which handles all communications about the former leader's health.
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