B’day ‘boy’ lunches with Clintons

A day before his birthday, former US President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, had lunch with Mandela in the small southeastern village where he grew up and spends most of his time.

A quiet but smiling Mandela, wearing a beige cardigan in the cool temperatures, sat at the head of the table as he shared a meal with the Clintons on Tuesday. Clinton, whose presidential term coincided with Mandela’s, hailed him as a ‘wonderful friend’ and planted a tree in his honour during the visit.

‘He didn’t call me a single time, not once, when he didn’t ask about Hillary (Clinton) and Chelsea,’ Clinton said of their conversations during their time in office.

‘If it wasn’t too late, he’d ask me to go get Chelsea, bring her to the phone, ask about her homework,’ he said.

Clinton said the anti-apartheid icon never lost touch with his humanity.

Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate, spent 27 years in prison for fighting against oppression of minorities in South Africa.

He became the nation’s first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed from prison. Despite his rare appearances, Mandela retains his popularity and is considered a hero of democracy in the nation.

The former president has not appeared in public since the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. He spends his time resting and gets round-the-clock care after abdominal surgery this year and a bout with an acute respiratory infection the year before. The United Nations designated 18 July as Mandela Day in 2009.