PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela brought joy and excitement to the lives of 1 200 children with life-threatening diseases on Friday when they joined him at a party in Cape Town to celebrate his forthcoming 79th birthday.
The children, of all races and suffering from diseases like cancer, leukemia, Aids and muscular dystrophy, came from from allover South Africa to party with Mandela in the vast Culemborg exhibition centre on Cape Town’s foreshore.
Interviewed by a local radio station, Mandela said he wishes that the children will be given love and whatever else they require. Children in general should make use of their opportunities. No country can develop if it does not give its children opportunities, Mandela said, adding that child abuse is one of the worst crimes and has to be eradicated.
Asked how he planned to spend his birthday on July 18, Mandela said he had no firm plans yet, but every year he tries to share his special day with people with the same birthday.