South Africa's schoolchildren sang happy birthday to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela who turned 94 on Wednesday, joining in the global praise for the much-loved statesman.
Mandela, whose 1990 release from an apartheid prison put South Africa on the path to democracy and reconciliation, spent a quiet day with his close family in his home village of Qunu, where he has retired from public life.
The nation's 12 million schoolchildren began their day with a special birthday song for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, ringing with the line: "We love you father".
"As we celebrate his birthday, we remember that he fought for us in the struggle. The struggle was to fight apartheid," said 12-year-old Kgaugelo Masunhloane at Batsogile primary school in Soweto.
"He spent 27 years in prison. We would want to say thank you Madiba, and we wish you happy birthday, and many more years to come."
Mandela, known fondly by his clan name Madiba, has not appeared in public since the World Cup in 2010. But his relatives said he was doing fine, for a man of 94.
Chief Mandla Mandela, the family's head, he was "relaxing at home and doing fine" at his Qunu home.
"Generally, he's looking good and he's joking, he's his old self," his granddaughter Tukwini Mandela told CNN from the family compound.
Former US president Bill Clinton met Mandela at his village home on Tuesday. A photograph released after the meeting showed Mandela seated in an armchair, his lap covered by a blanket, as he held Clinton's hand.
Villagers at his birthplace in nearby Mvezo were showered with gifts, including wheechairs donated to the only clinic in the village.
But fellow Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu warned that South Africa was not living up to Mandela's ideals, saying he would be shocked at the shambolic state of public schools.
"If he (Mandela) knew what was happening he would be crying... it's totally unacceptable," Tutu told a leadership summit in the central Free State province.
At the Tour de France, children unfurled a banner to wish the icon happy birthday at the start of the daily stage.
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