Madiba is 'tired'

2004-05-01 11:29

Johannesburg - Veteran leader Nelson Mandela, who turns 86 in July, will cut down on his public engagements as his gruelling schedule over the years have taken their toll, an official close to the anti-apartheid icon told The Star daily on Saturday.

Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive John Samuel said the statesman's overall programme had become "quite difficult to manage" but denied that he would be withdrawing from public life altogether.

"When Mr Mandela is ready to do so he will announce his retirement from public life. The fact that we're trying to reduce his workload is being interpreted as retirement," he said.

A source close to the country's first black president, currently in Trinidad and Tobago promoting South Africa's bid to host the 2010 soccer World Cup, said although he was in good health, he was "bloody tired".

"Bid officials are hopeful he will be able to make the journey to Zurich on May 15 for the World Cup bid announcement - a trip which could be his last major PR offensive on behalf of South Africa," the daily said.

Sources said Mandela's public appearances will be whittled down with more of the engagements shifted on to three foundations that bear his name - the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Mandela/Rhodes Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Another source close to Mandela said he would take more time out to write the second part of his autobiography, dealing with the years covering his release from prison in 1990.

Hectic pace

Mandela kept up a hectic pace after stepping down as president, travelling widely throughout the country and abroad.

In the run-up to South Africa's April 14 elections, Mandela was brought out to campaign on behalf of his African National Congress, which won its biggest landslide in a decade of power.

In the years after his release from jail in 1990, and especially after becoming president in 1994 after the end of apartheid, Mandela has not only charmed his own supporters but also other audiences with his self-deprecatory wit, his smile and humanity.

But he does not hesitate to speak out at what he perceives as injustice or bullying by powerful nations and is a respected voice the world over.

"I want to be a friend of the United States of America but I'm not going to allow what they have done for me to shut my mouth," he said in criticising Washington's decision to attack Iraq last year without a UN mandate.

Mandela's main public engagements are now children and Aids. He has helped the children of his country through his Foundation, which provides funds to build schools and clinics.

His other great struggle is against Aids, which he has said poses as much of a threat to South Africa as the apartheid regime.

He unwaveringly continues to speak out against the disease, standing in as a sponsor for many Aids centres and holding benefit concerts drawing top artists to collect money.

- AFP