Panafrican News Agency

Preparations for Mandela's 100th birthday anniversary kick off

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The Nelson Mandela Foundation has officially unveiled an exhibition in Johannesburg to mark Madiba’s 100th birthday next year.
Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of the Nobel Laureate’s death.

Foundation official Njabulo Ndebele who launched the initiative, said it is working hard to create the nation “that he dreamed of and sacrificed so much for”. He said a number of initiatives will be held around the world to mark the former President's centenary next July.

Mandela’s widow Graca Machel used her platform at the launch to choose a new crop of leaders that will stand with those who liberated the country.

“We should get to 2018, having some kind of clarity of who the new crop of leaders are, standing on the shoulders of those we are celebrating,” she said.

The deeply divided ruling African National Congress is holding its elective conference in two weeks to chose a new leader.

In other developments, leading photographer Shaun Harris is suing the government for US$200,000 for the unauthorised use of the decade-old photograph he took of Mandela.

Harris claims Pretoria purchased a licence to use the copyright protected photograph of Mandela in a book. This licence was limited to the once-off use of the image but it was also used as the official image at his 2013 funeral. The case will be heard in the High Court.
-0- PANA CU/MA 6Dec2017