{"id":6737,"date":"2013-07-19T00:26:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T00:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/the-world-stands-still-for-mandela\/"},"modified":"2013-07-19T00:26:36","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T00:26:36","slug":"the-world-stands-still-for-mandela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/the-world-stands-still-for-mandela\/","title":{"rendered":"The world stands still for Mandela"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South African President Jacob Zuma, who visited former President Nelson Mandela in hospital yesterday, said he was \u201cencouraged\u201d by his progress.<\/p>\n

South Africans have been urged to mark Mandela\u2019s 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I visited him today… I was able to say \u2018happy birthday\u2019 and he was able to smile,\u201d Mr Zuma said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMandela\u2019s struggle for freedom and justice in our country and his values of promoting a fair, just and equitable world continues to inspire and motivate us,\u201d he told a visiting European Union (EU) delegation.<\/p>\n

At an event in New York City, former U.S. President Bill Clinton was among the speakers to pay a heartfelt tribute to Mandela and his achievements.<\/p>\n

Clinton, whose presidency coincided with Mandela\u2019s, recalled how they developed a personal friendship over the course of two decades after first meeting before Clinton\u2019s election to the White House.<\/p>\n

He paid tribute to Mandela\u2019s life of service, saying the world could learn from his example, as an anti-apartheid campaigner, as South Africa\u2019s president and after leaving office.<\/p>\n

Mandela\u2019s commitment to helping those with HIV\/AIDS helped millions of people in the developing world gain access to medication, he said.<\/p>\n

Clinton also recalled how Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls, had cited Mandela as an influence in her own address to the United Nations last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough he is old and frail and fighting for his life … what is in his heart still glows in his smile and lights up the room,\u201d Clinton said, adding that Mandela had demonstrated that \u201cnone of us has to be in public office to be of public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Mlangeni, 87, who was imprisoned with Mandela, hailed his friend as \u201ca modern day global icon, an embodiment of the values of justice, peace, selflessness and consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s celebration of Mandela\u2019s birthday is also a celebration of the human values that the former leader represents, he said.<\/p>\n

He said Mandela was \u201cmaking very good progress \u201c and appealed to those gathered to continue to pray for him.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the U.S. civil rights leader, praised Mandela\u2019s commitment to healing and equality and urged people to honour his courage.<\/p>\n

The world \u201cwill never forget the living witness of Nelson Mandela,\u201d he said, describing him as a \u201cgiant of men.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Path to justice\u2019<\/p>\n

U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited with Mandela\u2019s family in South Africa last month, also sent birthday wishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople everywhere have the opportunity to honour Madiba through individual and collective acts of service,\u201d he said in a prepared statement. \u201cThrough our own lives, by heeding his example, we can honour the man who showed his own people \u2014 and the world \u2014 the path to justice, equality and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

The frail icon has not appeared in public for years, but he retains his popularity as the father of democracy and emblem of his nation\u2019s fight against apartheid.<\/p>\n

His defiance of white minority rule focused the world\u2019s attention on apartheid, the legalised racial segregation enforced by the South African government until 1994.<\/p>\n

His hospitalisation has given his birthday a sentimental touch. The South African Embassy in the United States said it will be the biggest celebration since his birthday in 1990, the year he was freed from prison.<\/p>\n

The festivities are not limited to South Africa. In the United States, the embassy said 18 cities, including the nation\u2019s capital, held various events to celebrate his birthday.<\/p>\n

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Family feud<\/p>\n

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Mandela\u2019s family has faced an anxious few weeks while the former president has been hospitalised.<\/p>\n

His daughter, Zindzi Mandela-Motlhajwa, told the South African Press Association yesterday that her father was making \u201cremarkable progress\u201d and that she looks forward to seeing him back home soon.<\/p>\n

A public family feud over where three of Mandela\u2019s deceased children should be buried has added to their stress.<\/p>\n

Last month, family members sued Mandela\u2019s grandson to return the remains to Qunu, the former president\u2019s childhood home.<\/p>\n

The grandson, Mandla Mandela, exhumed the remains from Qunu two years ago, then reburied them in Mvezo, where he\u2019s built a visitor center. They were returned to Qunu this month after a court order.<\/p>\n

The matter was back in court yesterday, said Freddie Pilusa, a spokesman for the grandson.<\/p>\n

\u201cMandla does not want the graves repatriated, but he wants the decision forcing him to move them rescinded because it was based on incorrect information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate, spent 27 years in prison for fighting against oppression of minorities in South Africa. He became the nation\u2019s first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed from prison.<\/p>\n

Children waved South African flags at the Milton Mbekela school in the village of Qunu, Mr Mandela\u2019s boyhood home.<\/p>\n

Outside the hospital in Pretoria where the former president is being treated, well-wishers reached for balloons bearing his image.<\/p>\n

Mr Mandela\u2019s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and members of his family greeted the crowds outside the hospital in Pretoria.<\/p>\n

There was even birthday cake for those gathered outside the hospital.<\/p>\n

South Africans have been urged to mark Mr Mandela\u2019s 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts. These women did so by taking part in a human food chain in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who campaigned alongside Mr Mandela for an end to white-minority rule, celebrated his old friend\u2019s birthday at a primary school in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

Mandela\u2019s daughter, Zindzi, said he was making \u201cremarkable progress\u201d, adding that she had found him watching television with headphones on and communicating with his eyes and hands when she visited him this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to having him back at home soon,\u201d the South African Press Association quoted her as saying.<\/p>\n

Mr Mandela\u2019s birthday is also Nelson Mandela International Day, a day declared by the UN as a way to recognise the Nobel Prize winner\u2019s contribution to reconciliation.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s first multi-racial elections in 1994.<\/p>\n

The governing African National Congress (ANC) said that on this Mandela Day homage was being paid to 95 years of \u201clife well-lived\u201d, dedicated to the liberation of South Africans and people all over the world.<\/p>\n

Events are also taking place internationally, with an image of a large Mandela painting by South African artist Paul Blomkamp featured in New York\u2019s Times Square.<\/p>\n

British entrepreneur Richard Branson, speaking in a recorded message, has pledged 67 minutes of community service to \u201cmake the world a better place, one small step at a time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, concerts are planned later this week in the Australian city of Melbourne, featuring local and African artists.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Less anxious\u2019<\/p>\n

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Mr Mandela\u2019s ill-health gives extra poignancy to this year\u2019s Mandela Day, correspondents say.<\/p>\n

For South Africans, the best birthday present for Mandela would be for him to recover and be among the people who love him most, says the BBC\u2019s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told a local radio station her former husband\u2019s 95th birthday was \u201ca gift not only to the family… but to the nation\u201d.<\/p>\n

She rejected the \u201cprophets of doom\u201d who have warned of chaos in South Africa when Nelson Mandela dies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe country will solidify and come together,\u201d she told Radio 702.<\/p>\n

Mandela\u2019s third wife, Graca Machel, said last Friday that she was \u201cless anxious\u201d about his health than before, adding that he was continuing to respond well to treatment.<\/p>\n

Yesterday was also the 15th anniversary of the couple\u2019s marriage.<\/p>\n

Before the anniversary, Mandela\u2019s close friend and lawyer George Bizos described them as \u201ca loving couple\u201d, the AFP news agency reports.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: The Nation Newspaper<\/p>\n

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