If you are in Africa this summer (and even if you aren't) you probably heard that last Friday, July 18 was Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. This was a BIG DEAL in South Africa.
The weeks leading up to the birthday bash, which he celebrated at his home in the Eastern Cape Province with about 500 of his best friends and family members, saw TV announcements, radio ads, and newspapers continuously wishing him happy birthday. Songs were written and performed for him. New coins were minted. A comic book of his life is forthcoming. A new book was published called Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the Life of Nelson Mandela about the role food played in different stages of his life, including his imprisonment on Robben Island. On July 17th there was a city-wide party in Pretoria to celebrate. (not that I attended. USAID mission staff tends not to mix with the locals, ho-hum) People in general just seemed excited.
On Friday all of the major newspapers covered the birthday story on the front page and many had special pull-out sections about Mandela's life with wishes from politicians and celebrities from around the world. This is a man that all South Africans genuinely seem to love and be proud of. They really can't get enough of him and affectionately call him Madiba. It was a really interesting time to be in South Africa and I'm glad I was here for it. There are few political figures in the world today, in office or retired, who are as iconic and capturing as Mandela.
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