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South Africa, Obama marks the centenary of Mandela with charity
JOHANNESBURG – South Africans and former US President Barack Obama celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela Wednesday in a country still struggling with deep economic inequality 24 years after the end of the white minority
Obama met with young leaders from all over Africa to mark the anniversary, one day after delivering a lively speech in Johannesburg on Mandela's legacy of tolerance and criticized President Donald Trump and its policies without mentioning it by name. An enthusiastic crowd of 14,000 people gave Obama an ovation for his speech, the most publicized one since he left his post.
"Most people think of Mandela as an older man with hair like mine," gray-haired Obama said laughing at his audience on Wednesday. But he added that people forget that Mandela "started as a very young man, at your age, trying to liberate this country."
S addressing participants of its Leaders Africa program, 200 young people from 44 African countries to continue the change at home and emphasize the impact they can have while the continent's population is experiencing the fastest growing in the world. "How big are your ambitions?" Obama has also denounced corruption and the conflicts that slow down change, citing as examples the current deadly tensions in Cameroon, confronted by an English-speaking separatist movement and the threat of Boko Haram extremists based in neighboring Nigeria. 19659004] "Find a way to not sell your soul," said Obama, encouraging them to engage in political work and community participation, especially women
. Mandela with clinic openings, cover distributions and other charitable acts. In Cape Town, numbers were painted on the homes of a sprawling slum to help health workers locate people living with HIV and tuberculosis.
But South Africans must do more to defend Mandela's values instead of making symbolic gestures. Anniversary, the main opposition leader Mmusi Maimane with the Democratic Alliance said, adding that "South Africa's failed education is part of a system that locks black children out of opportunities. "
After 27 years in prison in South Africa 1990 and became the first black president of the country four years later. He died in 2013 at the age of 95.
Events have been planned throughout the year for the 100th anniversary of his birth, including a big concert in South Africa in December, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Oprah Winfrey et al.
In a video message, former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that Mandela reflected the best of humanity
"Good leaders take into account that even they can be wrong, how to say sorry Madiba had this quality in abundance, "said Tutu, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end apartheid and reconcile South Africans.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a separate statement "Nelson Mandela has been held captive for many years, but he has never become a prisoner of his past," Guterres said. "Rarely has a person in history done so much to awaken people's dreams and bring them to action."
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