PEOPLE ACROSS the globe honoured former South African president Nelson Mandela yesterday on his 92nd birthday by donating their time and energy to help the world’s poor.
The first international Mandela Day, an occasion officially recognised last year by the United Nations, was celebrated by world leaders, international celebrates and ordinary people alike who donated 67 minutes of their time to charitable endeavours to mark the number of years the anti-apartheid hero spent in politics.
However, while their work was under way an increasingly frail Mr Mandela chose to spend his birthday quietly at home in Johannesburg with his wife, former Mozambican first lady Graca Machel, family and grandchildren.
Ms Machel, who went to an orphanage in Soweto to help plant a vegetable garden, said afterwards the day was an opportunity for millions to look inside themselves and find the qualities needed to help others. She added that although her husband was no longer physically strong, “his spirit is strong as ever”.
“He is very well . . . he is healthy and taking into account the kind of life he had, it is really heartening . . . he is getting old, he is getting frail but he is absolutely healthy, full of life, spirits high,” she said.
South African president Jacob Zuma and other government officials spent part of the day at Mr Mandela’s birthplace of Mvezo in the Eastern Cape province, where they planted trees and painted classrooms at local schools.
Addressing locals Mr Zuma called on South Africans to continue the unifying process that gripped the country during the World Cup by drawing lessons from Mr Mandela’s legacy. “One of the lessons . . . is that we must work together to entrench unity and solidarity in our country,” he said.
With that in mind politicians also used the occasion to urge people across the country to turn away from xenophobia, which has threatened to resurface since the end of the international football tournament eight days ago.
Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman was also in South Africa at the weekend and he joined a group of 30 bikers who took to the road from Johannesburg to Cape Town, engaging in community service during the 1,400km (870-mile) journey.
Among other things the group constructed a security fence at a centre for people living with Aids in Khayelitsha, a poor township outside Cape Town. “I take it as my connection to Madiba [Mr Mandela’s clan name]. We should do it every day,” Freeman said.
The UN marked the day with various activities at its centres around the world. Communities in Sudan participated in a “Football for Peace” tournament in El-Fasher, with the winning team awarded the Nelson Mandela Cup. In Spain a 6.7km charity walk was held in Retiro Park, Madrid.
UN secretary-general, Ban Ki- moon lauded Mandela as “a towering figure” who embodied the highest values of humanity and the UN. “Nelson Mandela’s accomplishments came at great personal cost to himself and his family. Today, on the first Nelson Mandela International Day, we thank him for everything he has done for freedom, for justice and for democracy,” Mr Ban said.