July 18, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
TODAY the nation – and the world - celebrates the birthday of South Africa's greatest statesman. Former president Nelson Mandela is turning 88 years and people are invited to send birthday messages to a man who has been described as the greatest political icon of the 20th century.
And very much like the unassuming man he is, Madiba will not be throwing a huge party on the day which, incidentally, is also the eighth anniversary of his marriage to Graca Machel. He plans to spend the day with close friends and family.
Madiba's birthday celebrations started early on Wednesday last week with the release of a book, The Meaning of Mandela, a Literary and Intellectual Celebration published by the Human Sciences Research Council and the launch of a photo exhibition by Alf Khumalo and Jurgen Schadeberg, Madiba: Public and Private.
On Thursday, the Walter Sisulu Paediatric Centre for Africa at Sunninghill Hospital hosted a tea party in memory of Madiba's lifelong friend, and birthday messages have been pouring in from local political parties and labour organisations.
In a statement, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) paid tribute to a "great national liberation fighter and political leader". The national working committee of the African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance and the African Christian Democratic Party also paid homage to one of the founders of the country's democracy.
The public can also send birthday greetings to Madiba on South Africa's official internet gateway.
Former American president Bill Clinton and Bill Gates dropped in last week to pay their respects to Madiba.
His birthday celebrations are expected to draw to a close on Saturday when President Thabo Mbeki delivers the fourth Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand's Great Hall.
The son of a Thembu chief, Madiba's life can be traced back to the village of Umtata in the Eastern Cape where his dreams to become a lawyer began. He attended a local mission school, matriculated and enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare and later moved to Johannesburg where he started and completed his law studies.
His political career blossomed while practising as a lawyer until he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the early 1960s for high treason.
Emerging from incarceration after 27 years, his spirit unbroken, Madiba continued the struggle against apartheid. His reconciliatory principles won him worldwide respect when, after being elected president of South Africa in 1994, he cultivated a spirit of oneness in a country formerly torn apart by racial tension.
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