Mandela celebrates 90th birthday



Nelson Mandela's quiet birthday has
turned into a village celebration

Page last updated at 06:57 GMT, Friday, 18 July 2008 07:57 UK


Nelson Mandela, who was instrumental in ending apartheid in South Africa and rose from prisoner to president, is celebrating his 90th birthday.

After a series of public appearances around the world over the past few weeks, he is expected to spend the day at his village home with his family.

Former President FW de Klerk has led tributes to the man who succeeded him.

Mr Mandela was jailed for 27 years as a member of the banned ANC before he was made the country's first black leader.

Nelson Mandela used his personal charm... to mould our widely diverse communities into an emerging multicultural nation

FW de Klerk
former South African president


Since stepping down as president in 1999, Mr Mandela has become South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup.

In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in "quiet reflection".

Correspondents say the birthday event in his home village of Qunu in south eastern South Africa was supposed to have been a quiet affair.

However there are now a variety of events planned including a local football festival, a concert and a dinner for 500 guests on Saturday.

Legacy

Mr de Klerk, who was awarded 1993 Nobel Peace Prize along with Mr Mandela, described him as one of the greatest figures of the 20th Century.

LANDMARKS

1918 - Born in the Eastern Cape
1964 - Sentenced to life for high treason
1990 - Freed from prison
1993 - Wins Nobel Peace Prize
1994 - Elected first black president
2004 - Retires from public life
2005 - Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness


"After his inauguration, Nelson Mandela used his personal charm to promote reconciliation and to mould our widely diverse communities into an emerging multicultural nation," the last president of the apartheid era told reporters on Thursday.

"This, I believe, will be seen as his greatest legacy."

Friday also marks 10 years since Mr Mandela married his third wife, Graca Machel, who paid tribute on CNN:

"He is simply a wonderful husband... and we enjoy every single day as if it is the last day.

"When we married we didn't know we'd be given 10 years together. We have been very lucky."

Gardeners have been mowing the lawn outside the museum honouring Mr Mandela in Qunu and new tarmac has been laid on the road outside his house.

A school choir has created a song especially for him.

"We are very excited," Mpondomise Ndzambo, principal of the Nkalane Junior Secondary School, told the Associated Press news agency.

"Usually these celebrations are done in Johannesburg, so this is a way of being part of it."

Mr Mandela raised funds to develop the school out of its original mud buildings and used to be a frequent visitor.

'True icon'

Many of those who have worked with Nelson Mandela and had a close friendship with him over the years say that behind the adulation he inspires there is a very human and often extremely private figure, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports.

Fellow Robben Island prisoner Mac Maharaj told our correspondent Mr Mandela was truly an icon.

He reduced a veteran white police officer to tears on his inauguration day when he walked over to him, shook his hand and told him "today you have become our police".

But Mr Maharaj argues that the event that sheds most light on Nelson Mandela's character was the killing of the popular ANC leader Chris Hani in 1993.

Mr Maharaj believes that if Nelson Mandela had called for an insurrection in response it would have been unstoppable but, instead, he went on television to call for calm and commitment to democracy

Reference Source - BBC

This man was a terrorist, same like those in Iraq. If we are to celebrate his birth then I think we should show the same respect to all those suicide bombers that ply their evil trade in Iraq and the rest of the Middle Ease. Let us not, in our rush to annoint another hero, forget their evil past.

quote:

This man was a terrorist, same like those in Iraq. If we are to celebrate his birth then I think we should show the same respect to all those suicide bombers that ply their evil trade in Iraq and the rest of the Middle Ease. Let us not, in our rush to annoint another hero, forget their evil past.

Have you no decency?

It is my humble duty to extend to Nelson Mandela congratulations on his achievement of this significant milestone....and my best wishes for continued good health and a longer life.....

History will record Mandela as a unique and uncompromising champion in the fight against colonialism, racism and poverty...

Many followers of Mandela along with Guyanese and others participated in many demonstrations for peace and justice here in NY....many supported our Guyanese cause for free and fair elections in Guyana....

See what he did ? He gave up power by stepping aside. Now if only other leaders can do the same. Happy birthday to the great man.

quote:

Originally posted by BGurd_See:

This man was a terrorist, same like those in Iraq. If we are to celebrate his birth then I think we should show the same respect to all those suicide bombers that ply their evil trade in Iraq and the rest of the Middle Ease. Let us not, in our rush to annoint another hero, forget their evil past.

Perchance, the opportunity might arise for reflections on your existence.

quote:

Perchance, the opportunity might arise for reflections on your existence

DG,we always have these types within our society.Too often we become comfortable with our progress and then these statements appear and challenge that notion.

Happy Birthday to one of the GREATEST person to have been on this EARTH!!!! Wishes for many many more. He is certainly one of my heroes. God Bless MR Mandela.

Indeed Ireton -- unfortunately, there are many of those who perhaps do not know the saying:

--"What goes around, comes around."

In my view, Nelson Mandela is indeed an icon from whom we all can learn something.

And, indeed he has imparted, in his simple and humble way, treasured gems to each one of us.

quote:

Indeed Ireton -- unfortunately, there are many of those who perhaps do not know ther saying:

--"What goes around, comes around."

In my view, Nelson Mandela is indeed an icon from whom we all can learn something.

And, indeed he has imparted, in his simple and humble way, treasured gems to each one of us.

DG, even on the other side there are many so-called Pan-Africanist who see him as sellout, yet many if not all of them never paid half the price he paid for his principles.

quote:

Originally posted by Ireton:

DG, even on the other side there are many so-called Pan-Africanist who see him as sellout, yet many if not all of them never paid half the price he paid for his principles.

Those Pan-Africanist have different agendas .. two examples -- Mugabe, and even in South Adrica -- Mbeki.

quote:

Originally posted by Ireton:

quote:

This man was a terrorist, same like those in Iraq. If we are to celebrate his birth then I think we should show the same respect to all those suicide bombers that ply their evil trade in Iraq and the rest of the Middle Ease. Let us not, in our rush to annoint another hero, forget their evil past.

Have you no decency?

Did Mandela have decency when he set bombs to kill the innocent? How much blood does he have on his hand as a result of bombs he planted?

quote:

Did Mandela have decency when he set bombs to kill the innocent? How much blood does he have on his hand as a result of bombs he planted?

The racist regime was killing persons because they demanded to be treated as humans with all rights and citizenship and you talk about blood.

Nelson Mandela in his home in Qunu, South Africa on Friday.

Mandela Celebrates His 90th Birthday

By ALAN COWELL
Published: July 19, 2008

LONDON — There was a time, not all that long ago, when he was the invisible man whose name was a battle cry, his appearance known to most people only from an out-of-date photograph, a hidden hero on a prison island off the coast of Africa.

But as he celebrated his 90th birthday on Friday, Nelson Mandela was anything but invisible, a figure of reverence whose nine decades have already been observed at a huge rock concert in London’s Hyde Park, a gala dinner for his children’s charity in the august, chandeliered Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground (also in London) and a host of other tributes.

The actual day of his birth was supposed to be celebrated with a quiet affair in his ancestral village of Qunu in the southeast of South Africa — with a mere 500 of his closest friends in attendance, and a wry self-deprecation.

“We are honored that you wish to celebrate the birthday of a retired old man, who no longer has power or influence,” he said in a public radio message, according to news reports.

Friday was also the 10th anniversary of his marriage to Graça Machel, the widow of Samora Machel, a revolutionary leader and former president of Mozambique. Mr. Mandela divorced Winnie Mandela in 1996.

Part of Mr. Mandela has always seemed to be public property, owned initially by foes of apartheid rule in South Africa and now a kind of universal talisman of integrity and dignity — a name to bring a flush of moral ardor to the most jaded celebrity visages.

Where his name once resonated around the segregated black townships of apartheid South Africa, chanted by the rebellious youths who challenged white rule, it now seems to head a list of encounters with notables sought by rock stars and politicians.

In his presence, even the most battle-scarred and cynical of politicians seem to feel they are wafted to the high ground wrought by Mr. Mandela’s 27 years in prison. His stature and charisma have given him entree from the White House in Washington to 10 Downing Street in London.

Remarkably, it has been 18 years since Mr. Mandela was released from jail, 14 years since he triumphed in his country’s first democratic elections, 8 since he left office and 4 since he formally withdrew from public life. But, contrary to his disclaimer of power and influence in his birthday message, he is still seen as a guarantor of his country’s remarkable transition from a segregated society to one that is majority-ruled.

F. W. de Klerk, the last white president of South Africa, who negotiated the transition with Mr. Mandela and shared a Nobel Peace Prize with him in 1993, hailed Mr. Mandela’s role in molding “our widely diverse communities into an emerging multicultural nation.”

Mr. Mandela has lent his name to the struggle against H.I.V. and AIDS. The rock concert in Hyde Park was devoted to the effort to combat the epidemic that has been the scourge of Africa.

He also entered the bitter dispute over the electoral, social and economic crises of Zimbabwe, saying that there had been a “tragic failure of leadership” in the country.

As Mr. Mandela ages, there are fears among some South Africans that, as The Mail and Guardian, a South African newspaper, put it, his legacy is under threat from his successor, Thabo Mbeki.

Mr. Mbeki’s critics have accused him of being far more divisive than Mr. Mandela and of overseeing a centralization of the power of the ruling party, African National Congress.

“Mandela is 90,” The Mail and Guardian said in its online edition on Friday. “But the sweet celebration of a life of leadership, service and generosity is mixed with the sour taste of a legacy being polluted in front of the old man’s tired eyes.”

It is thus with a certain wistfulness that some South Africans contemplate a post-Mandela era.

“Mandela can’t come to our rescue any more,” the newspaper said. “But his example can

Reference Source

Nelson Mandela responds to reporters' questions

Friday, July 18, 2008 - 5 hours ago

QUNU, South Africa (AP) — Highlights from Nelson Mandela's interview Friday with reporters at his 90th birthday celebration:

___

Q: What is the message you would like to share with the children of the world, the children of the continent and South Africa?

A: Whether you are going to stay long depends on yourself and your behavior. It is possible for anybody to reach this age. The only problem, of course, is that when you go to the country, even in town, poverty has gripped our people. And if you are poor it is not likely for you to live for a long time.

___

Q: When you look back, is there any memory you are most fond of?

A: I am happy that I have lived until now because there are not many people who look after themselves and can live for such a long time. I am happy that I am still alive.

___

Q: Is there anything you wish you had done differently? I have spoken to your wife and many of your grandchildren and they suggested that perhaps you wished you'd spent more time with your family. Is that something you think about as you look back?

A: I am sure for many people that is their wish and I also have that wish that I spent more time (with my family). ... I don't regret it because the things that attracted me were things that pleased my soul.

___

Q: What is your message for world leaders and also to South African leaders?

A: There are many people in South Africa who are rich, who can share those riches with people who are not so fortunate, who have not been able to conquer poverty.

___

Q: There is a whole industry that has been created around your legacy. What do you think your legacy is?

A: No. I wouldn't like to deal with that. That is for the people to deal with. But I am very happy that I have lived until now. And I hope many South Africans and other people will live like this so they could be the object of admiration.

___

Q: Today is not only your birthday but your wedding anniversary. Perhaps you could reflect on 10 years of marriage?

A: It's not easy to talk about the 10 years of my marriage, except to say that I am happy to have had a wife like her.

Reference Source