Nelson Mandela in 2008. (South Africa The Good News / www.sagoodnews.co.za [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)Former president Nelson Mandela’s stay in hospital should make the spirit behind International Mandela Day on Thursday, 18 July 2013 all the more poignant in the minds of South Africans and, indeed, the world at large. South Africa, in particular, is in the midst of considerable hype with the aim of celebrating the acclaimed leader’s 95th birthday by engaging in 67 minutes of acts of goodwill. However, as many churches plan various initiatives, ranging from visitations to old age homes to organising Mandela benefit concerts, the most Reverend Thabo Makgoba, Archisbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, has called on “churches, mosques and synagogues to form a human chain on Thursday in commitment to the Mandela dream of a united South Africa free from poverty.”
![Nelson Mandela in 2008. (South Africa The Good News / www.sagoodnews.co.za [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)](http://www.cihablog.com/prod/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Nelson_Mandela-2008_edit.jpg)
