Nelson Mandela spends 95th birthday in hospital

Nelson Mandela is spending his 95th
birthday in hospital in Pretoria, as
events take place around the world
and in South Africa in his honour.
South Africans are being urged to mark
the former president and anti-apartheid
leader's 67 years of public service with
67 minutes of charitable acts.
Mr Mandela, who is in critical but stable
condition with a recurring lung infection,
entered hospital on 8 June.
President Jacob Zuma said his health
was "steadily improving" .
"We are proud to call this international
icon our own as South Africans and wish
him good health," said Mr Zuma in a
statement.
"We thank all our people for supporting
Madiba throughout the hospitalisation
with undying love and compassion," he
said, referring to Mr Mandela by his clan
name.
As Nelson Mandela spends his 95th
birthday in a Pretoria hospital, South
Africans are being urged to mark the
former president and anti-apartheid
leader's 67 years of public service with
67 minutes of charitable acts.
Volunteers are spending 67 minutes
renovating schools and orphanages,
cleaning hospitals and distributing food to
the poor.
The ANC paid homage to 95 years of "life
well-lived", dedicated to the liberation of
people all over the world.
The day kicked off with millions of
schoolchildren across South Africa singing
Happy Birthday to Mr Mandela.
Mr Mandela's birthday is also Nelson
Mandela International Day, a day
declared by the UN as a way to recognise
the Nobel Prize winner's contribution to
reconciliation.
Mr Mandela's daughter, Zindzi, said he
was making "remarkable progress", and
that she had found him watching
television with headphones on and
communicating with his eyes and hands
when she visited him this week.
"We look forward to having him back at
home soon," the South African Press
Association quoted her as saying.
Mr Mandela's birthday is also Nelson
Mandela International Day, a day
declared by the UN as a way to recognise
the Nobel Prize winner's contribution to
reconciliation.
The former statesman is revered across
the world for his role in ending apartheid
in South Africa. He went on to become
the first black president in the country's
first multi-racial elections in 1994.
The governing African National Congress
(ANC) said that on this Mandela Day
homage was being paid to 95 years of
"life well-lived", dedicated to the
liberation of South Africans and people all
over the world.
Activities throughout the day included:
School-children across the country
singing a synchronised Happy
Birthday to the former president
Mandela family members handing
out gifts to Mamelodi township
residents before holding a birthday
lunch with Nelson Mandela. They
have prepared 95 cupcakes in his
honour
President Zuma visiting Mr Mandela
in hospital and overseeing the
donation of houses to poor white
families in the Pretoria area
Volunteers spending 67 minutes
each renovating schools and
orphanages, cleaning hospitals and
distributing food to the poor to mark
the former statesman's 67 years as
a lawyer, activist, prisoner and
president
Mr Mandela becoming the first
recipient of South Africa's new Smart
ID Card, introduced on Thursday. His
card will be collected on his behalf
by his daughter Zindzi
The forming of a human chain from
Johannesburg's Fashion District into
the heart of the city
Events are also taking place
internationally, with an image of a large
Mandela painting by South African artist
Paul Blomkamp featured in New York's
Times Square.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson,
speaking in a recorded message, has
pledged 67 minutes of community
service on Thursday to "make the world a
better place, one small step at a time".
Meanwhile, concerts are planned later
this week in the Australian city of
Melbourne, featuring local and African
artists.
'less anxious'
Mr Mandela's ill-health gives extra
poignancy to this year's Mandela Day,
correspondents say.
For South Africans, the best birthday
present for Mandela would be for him to
recover and be among the people who
love him most, says the BBC's Pumza
Fihlani in Johannesburg.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told a local
radio station her former husband's 95th
birthday was "a gift not only to the
family... but to the nation".
She rejected the "prophets of doom"
who have warned of chaos in South
Africa when Nelson Mandela dies.
"The country will solidify and come
together," she told Radio 702.
Mr Mandela's third wife, Graca Machel,
said last Friday that she was "less
anxious" about his health than before
and that he was continuing to respond
well to treatment.
Thursday also is the 15th anniversary of
the couple's marriage.
Ahead of the anniversary, Mr Mandela's
close friend and lawyer George Bizos
described them as "a loving couple", the
AFP news agency reports.