Happy Mandela Day, Madiba

THE United Nations declaration of 18 July – birthday of the global icon Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela – as Mandela Day will be marked with sobriety as the 95-
year-old former South African president spends his sixth straight week in
hospital.
Activities lined up to celebrate the man whose resolve was central to ending
apartheid, include school children all over South Africa singing “happy
birthday” to him this morning, a United Nations special session, and a legacy
bridge to be opened in Mveso, Transkei, near his home town of Qunu. The UN
declared Mandela Day in 2010 as a special day to remind people to do good
for humanity which is what Mandela epitomises.
“This year’s commemoration comes at a sensitive time for President Mandela
and his family,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon . “He is an extraordinary
man who continues to inspire the world through his example of courage,
compassion and commitment to justice for all.”
Born on 18 July 1918, Mandela became actively involved in the anti-apartheid
movement in his 20s, joining the African National Congress in 1942. He
attended the University College of Fort Hare and later enrolled at the University
of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg to study law.
In 1963, he was brought to trial with 10 other ANC leaders and sentenced to
life imprisonment. Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years. While in prison, he
earned a Bachelor of Law degree through a University of London
correspondence programme.
On February 11, 1990 Frederick De Klerk released Mandela and unbanned the
ANC. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize. On April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections.
Mandela was inaugurated as the country’s first black president on May 10,
1994, at the age of 77, with de Klerk as his first deputy.
By the 1999 general election, Mandela had retired from active politics. His
published works include the biography, No Easy Walk to Freedom.
Mandela made his last public appearance to date in 2010, at the final match
of the World Cup in South Africa. In December 2012, Mandela was hospitalised
for a lung infection. He was re-admitted in March 2013 for a lung infection. On
June 8, 2013, Mandela was rushed to a hospital in Pretoria, he is still there.
He married thrice – to Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1944 to 1957), they had four
children; Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1958 to 1996), they had two daughters
and in 1998 to Graca Machel.
“Never before in history was one human being so universally acknowledged in
his lifetime as the embodiment of magnanimity and reconciliation,” Archbishop
emeritus Desmond Tutu, once said of Mandela.
We wish Madiba happy birthday and quick recovery.