Happy Birthday Madiba ....

Everyone's favourite South African turned 89 today ... and the whole nation celebrated for him ... its things like this that make me adore living in South Africa ... can you ever imagine a British PM inducing national and global festivities?

How God must love South Africa to have given us such a priceless gift! joked Archbishop Tutu at the party - himself a close contender for the same national title ....

Madiba (or Nelson Mandela to most of us) - whose face was a banned image in SA during his 27 years in prison - so much so that Asimbonanga (Mandela) ("we have not seen him") became one of Johnny Clegg's (the White Zulu) most famous protest songs (as an aside - interestingly - i just read that it was the CIA that ratted out Mandela and the others who stood at the Rivonia trial ... clearly the fight against communism did not preclude the US from getting into bed with apartheid fascists) .... Mandela became then, now remains and will hopefully continue to be for years to come - an living icon for peace (despite his leading the MK or the armed wing of the ANC during the struggle), of hope for Black Africa, and a symbol of freedom and equality ....

And whilst he can be criticised for not addressing the issue of AIDS early or robustly enough in South Africa ... and also for not bringing Mugabe into line .... there is no doubt that since relinquishing power in 1999 after his one term in office (remarkably guiding south africa through a peaceful transition into multicoloured democracy) ... Madiba has continued to use his considerable influence and his icon status to combat illiteracy, HIV and poverty in Africa .... as his closing statement at the 1964 Rivonia trial laid out ....

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

This year however ... perhaps aware of his increasing fraility .... he chose to forego the annual festivities and football match staged in his honour in Cape Town (Africa vs Rest of the World - with many retired superstars playing to show their respects ... natch ending in a draw) ... and instead inaugurated possibly the most exclusive and special club in the world .... "The Elders" ....

Aimed somewhere between a "Council of Wisemen for the World" and a collective "Global Moral Conscience" ... and very cleverly striking a universal cultural chord .... the Elders aim to be untrammelled by economic, political or geographic pettiness ... their opinions having weight purely by their own histories and achievements .... their ability to meddle supported by their collective wisdom ...

Other members of the elite group include Mandela's wife Graca Machel (herself an avid campaigner for children's rights and ex wife of the ex leader of Mozambique) ..... Archbishop Desmond Tutu ....... Jimmy Carter .... Kofi Annan ...... Ella Bhatt (founder of SEWA International) ..... Gro Harlem Brundtland (former Norwegian Prime Minister and ex head of WHO) ........ Mary Robinson (former Irish President and ex UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) ...... and Muhammad Yunus (head of the Grameen Bank - the pioneer for microcredit) ...... a seat was also kept symbolically empty for Aung San Siu Kyi (still under house arrest in Myanmar/Burma) ........ amongst them i counted at least 6 Nobel Peace prizes ....

According to Mandela - The Elders will support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict and inspire hope where there is despair .....

It sounds like the best birthday present he could have ever given us ....