18 Jul 2013

Nelson Mandela spends 95th birthday in hospital

Former South African president Nelson Mandela, who has been critically ill in hospital for five weeks, turns 95 on Thursday.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela, who has been critically ill in hospital for five weeks, turns 95 on Thursday (Reuters)

The birthday has been designated Nelson Mandela international day by the United Nations, to serve as a reminder of the Nobel Prize winner’s contribution to reconciliation.

A Johannesburg-based foundation named after Mr Mandela and numerous other groups have asked people to give 67 minutes to charity to match the 67 years that Mr Mandela gave his community.

Former US president Bill Clinton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama have have lent their support with a series of video messages.

Mr Mandela, imprisoned for 27 years, led South Africa from apartheid to democracy and became his country’s first democratically elected black president in 1994.

He stepped down in 1999 and has not played a big role in public life since then, dividing his time in retirement between his home in the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Houghton and Qunu, the village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province where he was born.

President Jacob Zuma will mark his birthday with the donation of houses to poor white families in the capital Pretoria.

In Cape Town, activists are holding an event at St George’s Cathedral to encourage people to donate food to charity, while leaving messages of support for the former leader’s family.

Critical but stable

Mr Mandela, who is in a critical but stable condition with a recurring lung infection, has been hospitalised at a clinic in Pretoria since 8 June. Legal documents say his breathing is machine-assisted.

Hundreds of well-wishers have left prayers and messages of hope at his Johannesburg home and at the hospital where he is being treated.

A group of young South African designers has been running a poster project offering a global perspective on the former president with submissions from around the world.

The group has chosen 95 posters for each day of Mr Mandela’s life, and a single special edition will be auctioned to raise money for a children’s hospital.

Mr Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe and granddaughter visited him on Wednesday.

The public’s last glimpse of him was a brief clip aired by state television in April during a visit to his home by President Zuma and other senior officials from the ruling African National Congress.