Mandela at 90 plumps for poor

Qunu (South Africa): Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday on Friday 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.”

Mandela also said 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.

While Mandela celebrated quietly in Qunu, there were events across the country to honour him. Two runners holding South African flags circled Robben Island, where Mandela spent most of his 27 years in jail. In Johannesburg, children celebrated with a cake at the offices of the foundation Mandela founded after stepping down as president in 1999. His African National Congress hung giant banners with his image at its headquarters. And a school choir rehearsed a song they created for him. Mandela helped raise funds for the school to build new classrooms and move out of a dilapidated mud structure. AP