Mandela welcomes guests at 90th birthday party

Guests stood and cheered, a Xhosa choir sang “Here is our hope!” and a smiling Nelson Mandela welcomed hundreds of well-wishers in a festive tent outside his home on Saturday as South Africa formally celebrated the anti-apartheid icon’s 90th birthday.

Mr Mandela – walking in with his successor as South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, and African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma – stopped to personally greet a few of the 500 honoured guests as he made his way to the head table.