Nelson Mandela’s family arrives at his hospital in Pretoria yesterday.
Nelson Mandela’s foundation has vowed to press ahead with upcoming 95th birthday celebrations, as the global peace icon underwent a twelfth day in hospital yesterday for a recurring lung infection. On the frail icon’s July 18 birthday, various charity organisations and businesses will paint schools, hand out food parcels and books, and run a 67km relay marathon in the spirit of Mandela’s 67 years of activism and public work. Mandela spent 27 years in jail for his opposition to white minority rule, and walked free to become the country’s first black president after all-race elections in 1994. “We see this as an opportunity for people to rise above Madiba’s hospitalisation,” said Sello Hatang, the foundation’s CEO, referring to Mandela by his clan name. He wanted people to carry on his good work, his great-grandson Mbuso Mandela said. “His idea for me was just to continue the legacy which he put forth to myself and to the rest of the nation, which is humility and education.” Local and global celebrities have also endorsed a call by the UN, which declared his birthday International Mandela Day, to do 67 minutes of good deeds.