JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Nelson Mandela’s fans celebrated the anti-apartheid icon’s 91st birthday Saturday by emulating him with good deeds, reading to the blind, distributing blankets to the homeless or refurbishing homes for AIDS orphans.
Mandela called on people to spend time doing good Saturday, the first Mandela Day, which his charity foundations hope will be an annual event. “It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it,” Mandela said in a message. “Our struggle for freedom and justice was a collective effort. Mandela Day is no different.”
Mandela stepped down after serving one term as president — the first black South African to hold the post. Since 1999, he has devoted himself to such causes as fighting AIDS and poverty and championing the rights of children.
At a Mandela Day concert in New York on Saturday, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and others were to perform for the benefit of Mandela’s AIDS foundation. President Jacob Zuma, the current leader of Mandela’s African National Congress party, paid a birthday visit to Mandela at his home in Johannesburg. The Associated Press
