JOHANNESBURG // Nelson Mandela is set to spend his 95th birthday in hospital today, but across the world admirers hope to honour his legacy through millions of acts of kindness.
In South Africa, biker gangs will clean streets, volunteers will paint schools and politicians will spend 67 minutes on worthy projects in a tidal wave of charity.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, based in Johannesburg, and numerous other groups have asked people to volunteer 67 minutes to charity to match what they say are the 67 years that Mandela served his community.
According to a survey released yesterday, 89 per cent of young South Africans plan to take part in some way.
The United Nations declared the Nobel peace laureate's birthday Mandela Day in 2010, but for many this year it takes on extra poignancy.
Mr Mandela has spent the past six weeks in a Pretoria hospital, where he is still in a critical but stable condition and breathing with the help of a machine. Family and friends have said he is now responding to treatment.
His successor as president, Thabo Mbeki, even suggested he might be discharged from hospital soon.
But a day away from his 95th birthday yesterday, that seemed optimistic to many.
"I just hope that although he may not be able to enjoy his 95th birthday, that he will be well enough for his 96th," said friend and fellow campaigner George Bizos.
Mr Mandela led South Africa through a tense transition from apartheid to democracy and became president in the country's first all-race elections in 1994.
The president, Jacob Zuma, will mark the birthday by overseeing the donation of houses to poor-white families in the Pretoria area, in line with his cabinet's theme to commemorate Mr Mandela's birthday this year by focusing on food security, shelter and literacy.
Children in schools around South Africa will begin their day by singing "Happy Birthday" to the former statesman.
In Cape Town, labour activists are holding an event at St George's Cathedral today, in remembrance of Mr Mandela's years of service and to encourage people to donate food to charity while leaving messages of support for the former leader's family. Global luminaries, pop stars and companies also plan to pledge support.
"I will also be giving my 67 minutes to make the world a better place, one small step at a time," said the British business magnate, Richard Branson.
In Manila, 50 street children will get a television studio tour and see performances by local artists.
In the Australian city of Melbourne on Saturday, there will be a concert featuring local and African artists, while a music festival later this year in Norway will promote equality in schools.
Born on July 18 in 1918, Mr Mandela fought against white rule as a young lawyer and was convicted of treason in 1964. He spent the next 27 years in jail.
But it was through his willingness to forgive his white jailers that Mr Mandela made his indelible mark on history.
After negotiating an end to apartheid, he became South Africa's first black president, drawing a line under centuries of colonial and racist suppression. He then led reconciliation in the deeply divided country.
Mr Mandela's peacemaking spirit has won him worldwide respect.
"Never before in history was one human being so universally acknowledged in his lifetime as the embodiment of magnanimity and reconciliation as Nelson Mandela," said archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, himself a Nobel peace laureate.
But the sunset of his life has been somewhat overshadowed by bitter infighting among his relatives.
A row over his final resting place has led to three of his children's graves being dug up and their remains moved, public brawling and legal action among his children and grandchildren.
In a televised address, his grandson Mandla accused a sibling of impregnating his wife and Mr Mandela's oldest daughter, Makawize, of sowing divisions in South Africa's most famous family.
Mr Mandela's oldest granddaughter, Ndileka, spoke of the pain caused by the rift in an interview published yesterday.
"It was something that we did not want to take in the public space but because of who we are it was, it did spill over to the public space," she told the BBC. "There is no way that I can never forgive. but it's just that right now I'm still hurting."
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
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UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
Mobile phone packages comparison
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MATCH INFO
Argentina 47 (Tries: Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2), De La Fuente, Bertranou; Cons: Sanchez 5, Urdapilleta)
United States 17 (Tries: Scully (2), Lasike; Cons: MacGinty)
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
MATCH INFO
UAE Division 1
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 12-24 Abu Dhabi Saracens
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
