[ad_1]
Former US President Barack Obama will deliver a speech to a crowd of 15,000 in South Africa on Tuesday as the centerpiece of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.
Obama made relatively few House public appearances in 2017, but he often credited Mandela with being one of the great inspirations of his life.
He will deliver the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at a cricket stadium in Johannesburg in an address that will urge young people to fight for democracy, human rights and peace.
Mandela, who died in 2013, remains a world icon for his long struggle against the apartheid of the white minority and for his message of peace and reconciliation after being released after 27 years in prison
. Obama met Mandela only briefly in 2005 but eulogized 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". [19659006] Tuesday's speech comes on the eve of "Mandela Day" – his birthday, which is marked around the world every year on July 18th.
The anniversary "Mandela 100" set off a series of memories and tributes to the late leader of apartheid, as well as a debate about his legacy and the fate of South Africa since he resigned in 1999.
– A legacy threatened? –
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that he will mark the day by donating half his salary to charity to honor "the great sacrifices he has 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: "I am convinced that President Mandela would be deeply concerned about the current situation in South Africa." [19659011"Savisiond'AfricaofSureconciliatehasbeenalmostexistentwiththeUnc(power)atthetime"hesaid
Before arriving in South Africa, Obama made a brief visit to Kenya.
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 through Africa will participate in a five-day training program
Mandela was imprisoned under the regime of the United Nations. apartheid in 1962 and released in 1990, when he led the party of the African National Congress 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 release of letters written by Mandela in his cell and the printing of a commemorative bank note
. In 2013, US President Barack Obama declared that the anti-apartheid icon had made him "a better man"
. The anniversary of the "Mandela 100" triggered tributes to the late anti-apartheid leader. as a debate about his legacy
Source link
