Black leader is 90
QUNU, South Africa — Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday today by calling on the wealthy to share with the poor and wishing that he had been able to spend more time with his family during the long anti-apartheid struggle.
In an interview at his home in rural southeastern South Africa, the icon was asked if he had a message for the world.
"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty," Mandela said.
Sitting with his wife, Graca Machel, in a lounge of the large home he built in Qunu, Mandela said he was fortunate to have reached 90, but the poor are unlikely to live that long because "poverty has gripped our people."
At one point, a granddaughter brought a bowl of flowers into the room and gave Mandela a birthday kiss. He was asked if he wished he had had more time with his family during a life spent fighting apartheid and then leading South Africa.
"I am sure for many people that is their wish," he said. "I also have that wish that I spent more time (with my family). But I don't regret it."
Mandela was imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid.
He was released in 1990 to lead negotiations that ended decades of racist white rule. He was elected president in South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994.
After serving one five-year term, he devoted himself to campaigning against poverty, illiteracy and AIDS in Africa.
In recent years, Mandela has been slowed by age, cutting back on public appearances and spending more time with his family. He often spends holidays and his birthdays in Qunu.
While Mandela celebrated quietly in Qunu, there were events across the country to honor him.
Two runners holding South African flags circled Robben Island, where Mandela spent most of his 27 years in jail.
At nearby Drakenstein prison, known as Victor Verster when Mandela was held their briefly at the end of his term, a prisoners' choir and a band performed for a live broadcast on state television.
Prisoners who had created portraits of Mandela handed them over to Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour, who was to pass them on to Mandela.
