World leaders honour Mandela's birthday

Nelson Mandela’s lengthy 85th birthday celebrations began today when the beloved former South African president was presented with a book of tributes from world leaders.

Mandela, who won the nation’s first all-race election after the fall of apartheid in 1994, is to be barraged with honours throughout the week.

Tomorrow, his actual birthday, he is to be serenaded in Johannesburg by the military band.

Disabled children, government officials and business leaders are to offer him an hours long procession of birthday tidings.

Former US President Bill Clinton is scheduled to deliver the first annual Nelson Mandela lecture in his honour.

In the evening, an expected 1,600 guests, including unnamed international film stars, world leaders and friends, will pay tribute to Mandela at a gala banquet.

The Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg will officially be opened Sunday with a road race.

“A tremendous guy,” retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said after wishing Mandela Happy Birthday today. ”We wish him well and hope that he will have many, many, many, many more birthdays.”

Education Minister Kader Asmal presented him with a new book, Nelson Mandela, From Freedom to the Future, that combined Mandela’s speeches with tributes to him from world leaders.

President Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s successor, praised him as a hero and called his birthday ”a national day of celebration.”

In a society still largely divided by race and class, Mandela is adored by South Africans of all colours and backgrounds. Since retiring in 1999, the Nobel Peace laureate has flown around the world raising money for his Nelson Mandela Foundation. He has also helped mediate peace talks in Burundi.

Throughout the week, television stations screened documentaries on his life. Businesses rented billboards and ran television commercials wishing him a happy birthday. Birthday greetings from around the world flowed into South Africa’s official website.