South Africans Honor Mandela on His 100th Birthday

South Africans pay tribute today to legendary anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, on occasion of his 100th birthday, whose hometown of Mvezo is the venue of the main ceremony to his honor.

The event in the Eastern Cape province is led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, while Vice President David Mabuza leads the ones taking place in Mpumalanga province and other leaders visit the other regions of this Southern African country to attend the celebrations.

The tributes to Mandela and fighter Albertina Sisulu, whose 100th birthday is also commemorated in 2018, began early this year with workshops, talks, exhibitions, marches and marathons, and will last until December.

The 16th Nelson Mandela Lecture, organized by the foundation that bears his name, was held yesterday. Former U.S. President Barack Obama, who attended the event as a keynote speaker, said that in the strange and uncertain times the world is going through, the example of South Africa's first black president is very important.

Among the tributes to Mandela today is one organized by the Cuban Embassy in the Freedom Park in this capital, in which that country's Ensemble Vocal Luna participated. The band won last week two gold medals at the Choral Olympics held in Pretoria led by the German company Interkultur and South African state entities.