Mandela was born in Munitata of Eastern Cape, where he spent the first 23 years of his life.
School children sang Nelson Mandela a happy birthday on Monday (July 18), as the anti-apartheid icon turned 93.
Mandela -- known by his clan name of Madiba in South Africa -- has been receiving medical care at his home in Johannesburg's Houghton suburb since he was hospitalised at the start of the year, suffering from a respiratory disease.
He retired from public life in June 2004 before his 86th birthday, telling his compatriots: "Don't call me, I'll call you."
Since then he has rarely appeared in public and when he did, he appeared increasingly frail.
Mandela was treated in the 1980s for tuberculosis and later had an operation to repair damage to his eyes. In 2001 he had treatment for prostate cancer.
In his birthplace of Mthatha, 15 kilometers from Qunu, the Nelson Mandela Museum is under construction. The village is a quiet place. Everyone here is proud of their former president Mandela.
Mandela spent his childhood, from two to nine, in Qunu. His family graveyard is also here, covering a comparatively small area. Mandela's deceased families members including his parents are all buried here.
"When President Mandela became the first black president of South Africa, he recommended that he wanted a team that is united and that is reflective of the South African population, so that the team is combined of white people, of black people, of Indian people, and there are also women on the team," said a staff member from the Nelson Mandela Museum.
Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa and winner of Nobel Prize, devoting all his efforts to the struggle for the liberation of the black people and apartheid so as to establish a brand-new governmental system for South Africa.
To celebrate his birthday, Mandela's foundation urged people to give up 67 minutes of their time for charity work, to represent Mandela's 67 years of political activism.
Also, a canvas celebrating the life of former South African president Nelson Mandela was auctioned in Cape Town.
The artwork -- with hand prints and signatures of 67 celebrities -- was sold to British American Tobacco for $US360,000 on Saturday (July 16).
An official for the firm paid tribute to the former South African leader, who is popularly called Madiba in his country.
"My message to him and I suppose to myself is just to say thank you to Nelson Mandela, God Bless him and God bless his family for all the sacrifices that they've made throughout his years of struggle and sacrifice," said Fay Kagee, director of corporate affairs of British American Tobacco.
"And I encourage my family, myself and my colleagues and all the South Africans to get out there and spend 67 minutes or more just giving back and doing something no matter how small to make life a little bit better for all of us, I think we deserve it," Kagee said.
Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille said a permanent exhibition reflecting the life Mandela will be established at the City Hall, where he made his first speech after his release from prison.
Auction organisers said the auction was aimed at spreading Mandela's message around.
"The canvas is an amazing initiative when all eyes were on the World Cup and we wanted to get all dignitaries and celebrities and invite them to add their hands to the canvas, the Mandela Legacy Canvas, part of history of South Africa in a way and his legacy which is peace, love and unity which is the beads sewn in around it," said Davin Phillips, the marketing manager of Celebrity Services Africa.
Ten other items were also auctioned, including an autographed platinum award for "My African Dream" from Dutch violinist André Rieu, the only classical musician on the UK Top 10.
Luxury holidays were also auctioned, along with the script from the film "Blood Diamonds", which featured Leonardo di Caprio, along with Benin-born actor Djimon Hansou, who donated the autographed script.
The proceeds of the auction will go to two charities chosen by De Lille - the Red Cross Children's Hospital Trust and the Beautiful Gate charity, a hospice for children with HIV-Aids.
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