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Mandela hosts 90th birthday feast

Former South African president Nelson Mandela, fresh from being feted at home and abroad on his 90th birthday, hosted a banquet yesterday for the new generation of South African leaders as well as hundreds of friends.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who served as Mandela’s deputy president before becoming only the country’s second black head of state in 1999, and Jacob Zuma, leader of the ruling ANC party and favorite to become president next year, were among the 500 guests scheduled to attend the celebrations in the rural Eastern Cape.

Mandela’s fellow Nobel peace prize winner Desmond Tutu and former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda were also expected for the feast, which was to include traditional food such as tripe and sheep’s heads on the menu.

While Mandela spent his birthday on Friday with his family, yesterday’s event was meant to give some of his legion of admirers an opportunity to express their best wishes in the flesh at his homestead in the village of Qunu.

“We would like to thank him [for] what he has done for us, what he has done for the people of South Africa,” Mbeki said on TV.

While the focus of the celebrations would be in Qunu, those unable to secure an invite were planning to stage their own tributes, with a concert in Johannesburg’s landmark Nelson Mandela Square among the highlights.

Youngsters were to get the chance to pay their respects at an exhibition of painting by children from across the world that was being staged at the Nelson Mandela Museum, close to Qunu.

“The museum is what Madiba [Mandela’s clan name] stands for: humility, courage and wisdom,” said Kader Asmal, the chairman of the board of the museum, who served as a minister during Mandela’s five years as president.

Pre-recorded video messages from US presidential contender Barack Obama and Tutu were to be be shown at the museum, located about 3km from Mandela’s house, a family member told reporters.

Mandela served 27 years as a prisoner for his role in the fight against the whites-only apartheid regime before being released in 1990. He was elected president in 1994.

A long-time hero of the majority black population, he then won over the white minority by pursuing a policy of racial conciliation before stepping down after one term.
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