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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa is celebrating the centennial of the birth of Nelson Mandela this week with a flagship speech by former US President Barack Obama and a flood of memories and events. tributes to the late anti-apartheid leader.
died in 2013, he remains a global icon for his long struggle against the white minority and for his message of peace and reconciliation when he was released after 27 years in prison.
His birthday on July 18 is celebrated annually around the world and the Nelson Mandela Foundation has called this year for people to "act and inspire change" in the name of Mandela.
Obama will set the tone for the celebrations with a speech in Johannesburg on July 17th which will be his most important public speech since he left the White House in 2017.
opportunity to convey a message of tolerance, inclusivity and democracy at a time when there are obviously challenges to be faced around Mandela's legacy. "The world," said his badistant Benjamin Rhodes to the New York Times
Obama will also hold a discussion event on July 18 for 200 young leaders selected across Africa to attend a five-day training program.
The US President met Mandela only briefly in 2005 but eulogized at his funeral saying that Mandela "makes me want to be a better man" and hailing him as "the last great liberator of the 20th century."
A THREATENED HERITAGE? [19659009] South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would mark "Mandela 100" by donating half of his salary to charity to honor "the great sacrifices he made and his tireless commitment to improve the lives of the most vulnerable. "
De Klerk, the former president who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela in 1993, told AFP that the 100th anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on the current problems of South Africa
.
"His vision of a reconciled South Africa has become virtually non-existent within the ANC (ruling party) at this time.
De Klerk, who said he cherished his "deep friendship" with Mandela, added that he found hope in good race relations between many ordinary people.
A World Bank report said this year that South Africa was the most unequal society in the world. Africans believe that Mandela's hopes for the country were disappointed by his successors
others accused him of "selling" by allowing whites to keep control of most of the country's business. 39
"He fought to make us politically free, but we are not economically free," 19-year-old Soweto resident, Mtate Phakela, told AFP. "We do not have access to education or wealth, I have mixed feelings, he did his best, but the people who came after could have done better."
YEAR OF COMMEMORATION
in Johannesburg, led by the widow of Mandela, Graca Machel, the release of letters that Mandela wrote from his prison cell and the printing of a commemorative note [19659007ClimbersclimbKilimanjaromotorcyclistsbeginacharityrunandaprogramofbuilding100schoollibrarieswillbelaunchedalongwithaseriesofexhibitionsmusicfestivalsandsportingevents
The year commemorating the birth of Mandela will end with a concert in Johannesburg in December with Beyonce, Jay-Z, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams and Cbadper Nyovest.
Mandela was imprisoned under the apartheid regime of the white minority of 1962 and 1990 before leading the party of the African National Congress to victory in the first multi-race elections in 1994.
served as president before resigning in 1999.
The title of Obama's annual Nelson Mandela Lecture is "Renewing Mandela's Legacy and Promoting Active Citizenship in a Changing World". Former speakers include Bill Clinton, Thabo Mbeki, Annan Kofi, Bill Gates and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Before arriving in South Africa, Obama will make a brief private visit to Kenya, the homeland of his father, Sunday and Monday. ] (function (d, s, id) {
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