As the world celebrates the birthday of former South African president Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero spends his fifth week fighting a serious lung infection in a Pretoria hospital.
Mandela, whose 95th birthday is on July 18, has been receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection that has led to four hospital stays in the past six months. This has forced a growing realisation among South Africans that the man regarded as the father of their post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation" will not be among them for ever.
The United Nations has designated July 18th as Nelson Mandela international day after South Africa initiated the process in 2009. It has particular significance this year which sees the start of the countdown to the 20th Anniversary of liberation in 2014.
U.N. European headquarters in Geneva will hold a ceremony in honour of "Mandela Day", in recognition of the former South Africa President's contribution to democracy, racial justice and reconciliation.
Meanwhile former U.S. president Bill Clinton and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu joined exiled Tibetan Spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in a series of messages on a video published by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory urging people worldwide to dedicate 67 minutes of their time to helping others in honour and memory of Mandela's 67 years of public service.
Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one five-year term in office. Since then he has played little role in public life, dividing his time in retirement between his home in the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Houghton and Qunu, the village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province where he was born.
The public's last glimpse of him was a brief clip aired by state television in April during a visit to his home by Zuma and other senior officials from the ruling African National Congress.
At the time, the 101-year-old liberation movement assured the public Mandela was "in good shape", although the footage showed a thin and frail old man sitting expressionless in an armchair.
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, is known throughout the world as a towering statesman who led his country through bloodshed and turmoil to democracy.
Mandela was born in the Transkei region on July 18, 1919, the son of a Xhosa chieftain. Having cut short his studies at Fort Hare University after boycotting student elections, Mandela went on to study law, supporting himself by working first as a gold mine security guard and later as an estate agent.
After the introduction of apartheid in 1948, he and other young radicals took over the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), turning it into a militant campaigning political organisation.
Mandela was among the first to advocate armed resistance, going underground in 1961 to form the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (The Spear of the Nation). In 1962 he was captured and sentenced to five years for incitement and illegally leaving the country.
While serving this sentence Mandela was charged along with other anti-apartheid leaders in the 1963 Rivonia treason trial. In June 1964 he was given a life sentence with hard labour.
Mandela's imprisonment began with breaking rocks on the notorious Robben Island prison in Table Bay off Cape Town, a place of incarceration infamous for more than 200 years. A life sentence at this time generally meant 20 years with time off for good behaviour. Mandela was to serve 27 years during which time he became the world's most celebrated political prisoner, despite the fact that few people knew what he really looked like.
Mandela finally walked free from Victor Verster prison on February 11, 1990 having refused to bargain for his release.
Less than three months later he led an unbanned ANC delegation in the first face-to-face talks with South African President F.W. De Klerk and government officials. Mandela's election as ANC president in July 1991, replacing the ailing Oliver Tambo, gave him greater authority to negotiate with the white-led government.
Mandela faced possibly his most painful trial when his second wife Winnie was convicted of kidnapping four youths and of being an accessory to assault. In April 1992 he announced their separation citing "personal reasons". Details of a cold relationship and Winnie's affairs with younger men emerged in a public divorce hearing in 1996.
Mandela and De Klerk were jointly awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their efforts to end white domination and pave the way for transforming South Africa into a multi-racial democracy. Although he accused De Klerk's government of not doing enough to stop political and racial violence, Mandela agreed to accept the joint prize as a gesture of reconciliation.
While Mandela has spoken of his anger at his incarceration, generally he has not dwelt in public on his suffering behind bars. During a visit to Robben Island, on the fourth anniversary of his release, he said he and his cellmates felt the sacrifice had been worthwhile.
More than 3 years of negotiations culminated in the adoption of an interim constitution and campaigning in South Africa's first all-race elections began in earnest.
In April 1994 an estimated 23 million people cast their votes during four days of voting in an election hampered by logistical problems but relatively free of violence. The ANC won 62.25% of the vote and control of eight of the nine regional assemblies.
Speaking after voting Mandela quoted from the now famous address he made during the Rivonia trial. "I have fought very firmly against white domination, I have fought very firmly against black domination, I cherish the idea of a new South Africa where all South Africans are equal", he said.
On May 10th, 1994 Mandela was formally inaugurated as South Africa's first black head of state before a worldwide audience. A Mandela presidency, something millions of black South Africans had only dared dream about, had become a reality.
Mandela made reconciliation the theme of his presidency. The hallmark of his crusade was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which probed apartheid crimes on both sides of the struggle and tried to heal the country's wounds.
He won over many whites when he donned the jersey of South Africa's all-white national rugby team during the 1995 World Cup tournament.
On his 80th birthday, in July 1998, Mandela married his third wife Graca Machel, the widow of former Mozambican president Samora Machel.
The following year Mandela, often criticised for having a woolly grasp of economic issues, handed over to a new generation of leaders headed by Thabo Mbeki. His decision to step down voluntarily after one five-year term as president was seen as a shining example to other African leaders who stubbornly clung to power.
After leaving office Mandela made headlines when he publicly challenged the government's controversial views on HIV/AIDS. In January 2005 he announced that his eldest son Makgatho had died from HIV/AIDS at the age of 54, using his personal tragedy to once again exhort South Africans to confront the epidemic in the country with the highest infection rate in the world.
Months of international celebrations marked Mandela's 90th birthday throughout the summer of 2008. Appearing frail but smiling he attended numerous events held to rally support for his charitable work and to pay tribute to his life.
Plans for Mandela to attend the opening game of the Soccer World Cup in Johannesburg in June 2010 were cancelled following the death of his 13-year-old great-granddaughter Zenani in a road accident.
Mandela and Graca Machel briefly toured the Soccer City stadium during the closing ceremony of the tournament where he received an ecstatic welcome from the crowd. It was to be his last major public appearance.
Mandela remains a hero to many of South Africa's 52 million people and two brief stretches in hospital in the last two years made front page news.
In January 2011 he received hospital treatment for an acute respiratory condition. In February this year he underwent a keyhole examination after he was admitted to Pretoria's '1 Military' hospital suffering from acute abdominal pain.
He has spent most of the time since then at his home in his ancestral village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
His fragile health prevents him from making public appearances although he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mandela's charisma and commitment to reconciliation with the white rulers who jailed him for 27 years enabled South Africa to move from white minority rule to democracy without triggering a civil war.
After a life of nationalist struggle and imprisonment he made the transition from the world's most famous prisoner to the world's most respected statesman.
Acclaimed by all sides of society in South Africa and recognized as the undoubted elder statesman and moral authority of Africa, Mandela enjoys international affection, admiration and prestige. — Reuters
Well wishes release baloons into the sky outside the hospital where ailing former President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria
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