Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela is spending his 95th birthday in hospital in Pretoria, as events take place around the world and in South Africa in his honour. South Africans are being urged to match the former President and anti-apartheid leader's 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.
Mr. Mandela, who is in critical but stable condition with a recurring lung infection, entered hospital on June 8. His daughter Zindzi on Wednesday said he had made dramatic progress.
Mr. Mandela's birthday is also Nelson Mandela International Day, declared by the UN as a way to recognize the Nobel Prize winner's contribution to reconciliation. The former statesman is revered across the world for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa.
He went on to become the first black president in the country's first all-race elections in 1994. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said the Mandela Day homage was being paid to 95 years of "life well-lived," dedicated to the liberation of South Africans and people all over the world.
The day kicked off with millions of school children across South Africa singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Mr. Mandela. President Zuma plans to mark the occasion by overseeing the donation of houses to poor white families in the Pretoria area.
A poster project offering a global vision of Mandela, with 700 submissions from around the world, will be unveiled on Wednesday and auctioned off for charity. Events will also be taking place internationally, with an image of a large Mandela painting by South African artist Paul Blomkamp featured in New York's Times Square
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