Obama Speech on the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Mandela's Birth



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Obama has made relatively few public appearances since he left the White House in 2017, but he often credited Mandela with being one of the great inspirations of his life.

When Nelson Mandela died in 2013, US President Barack Obama's former US President Barack Obama will deliver a speech Tuesday in front of a crowd of 15,000 people in South Africa. The centerpiece of celebrations marking the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

Obama has made relatively few public appearances since he left the White House in 2017, but he often credited Mandela as one of the great inspirations of his life. He will deliver the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at a cricket stadium in Johannesburg in a speech that will urge young people to fight for democracy, human rights and peace.

Mandela, who died in 2013, remains a globa He met Mandela only briefly in 2005 but eulogized his funeral saying that Mandela "does" much of his struggle against the apartheid regime of the white minority and his message of peace and reconciliation after being released after 27 years in prison. I want to be a better man "and greet him as" the last great liberator of the 20th century. "

Tuesday's speech comes on the eve of" Mandela Day "- his birthday, which is marked all over the world every year July 18

The anniversary of" Mandela 100 "set off a series memories and tributes to the late anti-apartheid leader, as well as a debate on his legacy and the fate of South Africa since his departure in 1999.

Legacy threatened
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would mark the day by donating half his salary to charity to honor "the great sacrifices he made and his tireless commitment" to improve the lives of the most vulnerable. "

Klerk, the former president who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela in 1993, told AFP:" I am convinced that the president Mandela would be deeply concerned about the current situation in South Africa. "

" His vision of a The reconciled South Africa has become almost non-existent within the (ruling) ANC right now, "he said.

Before arriving in South Africa, Obama made a brief visit to Kenya, his father's country of origin.

He opened a youth center run by his half-sister and visited his mother-in-law's house in the village of Kogelo, where his father was born and buried.

Obama will also hold a mayoral event in Johannesburg on July 18 for 200 young leaders selected Mandela was jailed under the apartheid regime in 1962 and released only in 1990, when he led the party of Congress African national to victory in the first multi-race elections. in 1994.

The anniversary includes a series of other events, such as a march to Johannesburg led by the widow of Mandela, Graca Machel, the publication of letters from her prison and the printing of Commemorative banknote


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