1000s to honour Mandela
2010-07-16 16:07
Johannesburg - Tens of thousands of people in South Africa and around the world were preparing on Friday to honour former president Nelson Mandela on his 92nd birthday at the weekend by devoting time to helping others.
The UN has declared Mandela's birthday on July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day, in support of an appeal by the revered statesman for his birthday to be used for good.
Mandela will himself be spending the day at home with family in Johannesburg. Around 100 children from his native Eastern Cape are being flown in from his home village of Mvezo to celebrate with him.
President Jacob Zuma will, meanwhile, be heading to Mvezo to lead celebrations there. Along with other ruling party politicians, he will be rolling up his sleeves to help the community complete a health clinic.
Scores of businesses and public institutions are also mobilising their staff to devote at least 67 minutes - representing the 67 years Mandela devoted to politics - to a good cause.
Bikers for Mandela
Some have volunteered to read to children in an orphanage. Others will clean up a public park or repaint a school. A group of 21 bikers for Mandela were riding from Johannesburg to Cape Town this week, performing charitable deeds along the way.
"Nelson Mandela is a living embodiment of the highest values of the United Nations... He is an exemplary global citizen," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, leading tributes this week.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison between 1963 and 1990 for resisting apartheid rule.
On his release, he led negotiations with his former jailers to transition the country to democracy - a process that culminated in his election as the country's first black president in 1994.
He stepped down in 1999 after a single term and threw himself into charity work, including his 46664 Aids charity and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, meanwhile, seeks to promote his legacy of reconciliation and nation-building. Mandela himself has told the world on more than one occasion: "It's in your hands now."
Star-struck crowd at SWC closing
South Africans rose to the challenge this year by hosting a successful Soccer World Cup, despite Mandela being largely absent.
Mandela, who canvassed for the tournament to be brought to South Africa, missed the opening on June 11 to mourn his great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela, who had died that morning in a car crash.
He did, however, make it to the closing ceremony at Soccer City a month later. A star-struck crowd of more than 84 000 spectators cheered the frail statesman as he was driven around the pitch in a golf cart with his third wife Graca Machel, waving and smiling.
"The man who has suffered so much and who, when he came out (of jail), set out to bring peace, solidarity and humanity, he had a dream, and his dream was to see the World Cup in his country," FIFA president Joseph Blatter said.
"That dream has now come true," he added.
- SAPA