| Happy, happy birthday, Madiba |
|
|
|
| Written by Lucille Davie | |
| Friday, 18 July 2008 | |
|
South Africa's most famous citizen, Nelson Mandela, turns 90 today, and the City wishes him a very happy birthday. May you have a great day filled with good things, friends and all those you love. 
Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel (Photo courtesy of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund)
HAPPY, happy 90th birthday, Madiba, from the whole city. It's very special to have you as our most prestigious resident. We hope you have a wonderful birthday. "Madiba's inclusive humanity and his caring for the poor of the poorest is a true inspiration," says executive mayor Amos Masondo, "Madiba is a lodestar that inspires us as we strive to build a World Class African City for all. "Congratulations Tata on your 90th birthday. You are our City's most revered citizen. Your struggle to bring justice to all in South Africa has taught us that nothing in life is impossible." In what must be a unique happening, every year the whole world celebrates one person's birthday – Nelson Mandela, whose birthday falls on Friday, 18 July. Today he turns 90. "On behalf of the City of Johannesburg's citizens and residents, we wish you good health. We take this opportunity to assure you that nothing will stop us from doing everything to realise a truly caring and inclusive society," added Masondo. One of his great friends and a fellow prisoner, Ahmed Kathrada, describes Madiba in his Memoirs: "Charming and charismatic, he has both a magnetic personality and a commanding presence. An uncommon amalgam of peasant and aristocrat, he is a living paradox: a democrat par excellence, with just a touch of the autocrat; at once proud but simple; soft yet tenacious; obstinate and flexible; vain one moment and humble the next; infinitely tolerant but also impatient." Well, Madiba has charmed the world with that personality and presence, and the world is celebrating today in honour of him. Mandela's birthday also marks his 10th wedding anniversary, to Graca Machel, who he persuaded to marry him after she vowed never to marry again when her husband, Samora, died in a plane crash in 1986. Machel describes in an Al Jazeera interview with Mike Hanna how lonely Mandela was when she first met him, and how over time they bonded. "It was a meeting of minds and a meeting of hearts." And although she was reluctant to get married, she decided that her 80th birthday gift to him was to marry him. Madiba will be celebrating his birthday with 500 friends and relatives at a private party at his home in the Eastern Cape, where a giant marquee will be erected. Among the guests are Swaziland's king Mswati III, Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini, and Xhosa king Mpendulo Sigcawu. 
Nelson Mandela hosts Liberian head of state Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
Madiba has always been a man of the people. "You just couldn't tear Nelson from the people, from the struggle," says Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his former wife, in Part of my Soul, published in 1985. "The love we have known from him, my children and I, I don't think we would ever find anywhere else. The understanding, the faith, the confidence he gives us – even when it is shared by the whole nation, he always makes you feel, at the same time, that you are special to him." On 12 July the 6th annual Nelson Mandela Lecture [PDF format] took place at the Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, given by the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. She said: "We admire you, President Mandela; for returning justice and democracy to your country, South Africa, and in doing so, for becoming an inspiration for Africans and for peoples the world over. You have taught us that if one believes in compassion for humanity we can all make a difference." He said at the function: "We have for years remarked about people coming to such events primarily to see what an old man looks like. To see a ninety-year-old in real life must surely be an irresistible temptation! "As the years progress one increasingly realises the importance of friendship and human solidarity. And if a ninety-year-old may offer some unsolicited advice on this occasion, it would be that you, irrespective of your age, should place human solidarity, the concern for the other, at the centre of the values by which you live."
Year-long celebrations 
An art exhibition is on at the Constitutional Court as part of the celebrations
The Nelson Mandela Foundation authorised the publication of two books this year - Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the life of Nelson Mandela, and Nelson Mandela: The Authorised Comic. Later in the year the foundation will publish the official Mandela birthday messages book, a 240-page coffee table book, containing worldwide birthday wishes and a never-seen-before photograph of Madiba, recently found in a book. You can contribute your birthday wish online. Limited editions of coins and stamps were recently produced in his honour. An art exhibition has been running at the Constitutional Court, until the end of July, called http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/2670/266/. Tours in the city taking in relevant places where Madiba lived, or was jailed, have been running throughout July. Further afield, the 46664 Aids concert was held on 27 June in London, attended by exactly 46 664 people. Mandela was there to celebrate with the crowds. On 16 June, a world birthday SMS and email initiative began, exactly 46 664 minutes before Mandela's birthday. Messages can be sent up to and including the big day. Among Mandela's fans who have already sent messages are prime minister Gordon Brown, Bill and Hillary Clinton, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, and entrepreneur Richard Branson. Madiba has the freedom of Johannesburg, bestowed on him in July 2004. He also has the freedom of 45 cities around the world, and honorary citizenship of 11 cities. He has a soaring bridge into the CBD named after him, now a city landmark. An enormous 6m-high bronze statue has been erected in his honour in Sandton, in the Nelson Mandela Square. On 8 July he had several old friends and comrades around for lunch, and by the look of the pictures, it was a great occasion. "The focus was on catching up, telling stories, teasing, and reminiscing," according to the foundation. "He is trying as far as possible to meet the needs of people from all walks of life to see him and to celebrate his life and work." This year the foundation has received some 4 000 requests a month for his involvement in projects and issues. "For someone of Mr Mandela's age, his schedule is demanding. He reaches as far as he can to fulfil the duty he feels strongly and immemorially." The Madiba mania continues until the end of the year. In August a 15-city American tour of "A portrait of Mandela" kicks off from Atlanta. On 2 August a mass ANC rally to pay tribute to Madiba will be held at Loftus Versfeld in Tshwane. On 9 August a test match will be held between the Springboks and the team they beat in the semi-finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Argentina, in Johannesburg, in celebration of Madiba's 90th. In September a retrospective exhibition on Mandela's life will open at the Apartheid Museum. On 30 November there's another 46664 concert, this time in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. When asked what he has given the world, Machel replied: "In a turbulent world, in the last decades of the 20th century and now the 21st century, the sense of dignity, perseverance in what is good, and never move away from what is good, justice." She smiled her broad smile: "He has given a very humane leadership. We are blessed to have it." Related stories: |
