Nelson Mandela celebrates his 89th birthday in South Africa today with a star-studded soccer match and the launch of a humanitarian campaign along with former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
Messages of support began rolling in from all corners of the world while a local poll found that Mr Mandela, known affectionately as Madiba, was becoming more popular with age.
"The country and the world are privileged to celebrate the life of such an outstanding leader of our people," President Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mr Mandela in 1999, said in a statement.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele and Cameroon and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o present former South Africa President Nelson Mandela with jerseys during their meeting in Johannesburg yesterday
"Mandela inspires South Africa, the continent and the rest of humanity through his life, his leadership, and his resolute and deep-seated commitment to the struggle against apartheid and for a just and democratic society," he said.
Mr Mandela was to unveil details of the Nelson Mandela Foundation with a group of former leaders including Mrs Robinson, former US President Jimmy Carter and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at a news conference in Johannesburg.
"Nelson Mandela 's role in this was to help bring the group together. What he will do today is introduce them to the media and to the public, bless them, and let them carry on with the work," Foundation head Achmat Dangor said today.
Mr Dangor said the new group would tackle pressing world issues, but that Mr Mandela himself - who stepped down as South Africa's president in 1999 and officially retired from public life in 2004 - would not play a major role.
"Not only does he not have the time to devote to such a very complicated process, but we also think that his priorities should lie in Africa," he said.
Aides say Mandela is in good physical health for his age, and that he is spending his retirement quietly devoting time to his large family and wife Graca Machel, whom he married on his 80th birthday in 1998.
A new poll released to coincide with the birthday showed Mr Mandela 's popularity in South Africa has actually grown since he stepped down as president.
The Markinor poll said Mr Mandela scored an average rating of 9.2 out of 10 among some 3,500 people surveyed, "making him the country's most beloved leader." The survey marked an improvement over Mr Mandela 's rating at the end of his presidency, which was about 8.2 out of 10, the results showed.
The former ANC leader's birthday was also to be marked in Cape Town with a special soccer game between African soccer stars and a selection of great world players.