Mandela turns 94 today

The International icon and South African freedom fighter is 94 years old today, a day when he asks the world to honour his legacy by performing community service. To honour the Icon, who is known fondly by his clan name Madiba, South Africa’s schoolchildren sang happy birthday to Nelson Mandela.

The nation’s 12 million schoolchildren began their day with a special birthday song, ringing with the line: “We love you father. As we celebrate his birthday, we remember that he fought for us in the struggle. The struggle was to fight apartheid,” said 12-year-old Kgaugelo Masunhloane at Batsogile primary school in Soweto.

His granddaughter Ndileka Mandela told the Sowetan newspaper that his family would celebrate with a traditional meal of tripe and samp, a corn dish popular in his region of the Eastern Cape.

“We will probably have food like samp and tripe, his favourite food, the big lunch will be at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) where we will present him with a cake.”

Former US president Bill Clinton met with Mandela at his village home on Tuesday. Clinton said he was honoured to have been in office as Mandela became South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

“When I think about Mandela I always think about someone committed to the future,” he said after leaving Mandela’s home.

Mandela’s “extraordinary life and steadfast commitment to the principles of democracy and reconciliation continues to be a beacon for people of all backgrounds who strive for dignity, justice, and freedom,” said President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Tiger Woods, the first black player to win a major golf title with a record-shattering 1997 Masters victory, remembered his first meeting with the ever-charismatic Mandela.

“He has such a presence and aura about him, unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” Woods said Tuesday at the British Open. “He has meant so much to so many people around the world, not just in South Africa.”

At the Tour de France, children will unfurl a banner to wish the icon happy birthday at the start of the stage in the southwestern town of Pau.

And the science world added an unusual tribute, naming a prehistoric woodpecker after the Nobel Peace Prize winner — the oldest type ever found in Africa.