Whilst many may join in a cacophony of song to wish Madiba a happy birthday, I would like to instead pause momentarily to appreciate and thank him for the impact he has had in our lives.

As a young boy and later a mellowed man living in South Africa, I would honestly like to wonder deep into a period where being of my pigmentation was an issue and a subject of pain, ridicule and strife until a voice of parentage bellowed from far a distance of Mveso in the Eastern Cape.

I am drawn to an era where injustice reigned supreme, a time when death was within a whisker of catch and where a dark cloud of social squalor characterised our very existence. I am inclined to a time where race and colour carved our course and ushered us into an abyss of inferiority and degradation of our livelihood.

It was during such times that Nelson Mandela together with his inner circle of comrades rose to prominence by taking a robust approach to a course of struggle that was initiated long ago in 1912. In secrecy they exchanged notes, planned, mobilized and fought a justified war of consciousness despite the threat of a constant surveillance at the hands of a race and system that equally was determined to rise as superior to anything that was of the same pigmentation as mine.

Much of this part of Madiba’s life is well documented and no volume of words from my desk can explain Madiba the man, the leader and voice of reason he had grown to be. Similarly, no volume of birthday presents can substitute his sacrifice, commitment and dedication to a just course.

Dear Tata Madiba, it is against this background and voluminous evidence of your contribution to my life and that of many that I join the birthday chorus by prayerfully presenting you to GOD the Almighty whose grace birthed in you, a grandparent of a nation that is hard at work to erasing the pain and sufferings of the past.

May you be content with your unprecedented achievements as a chosen servant of mankind since you were carved to overcome all manner of adversity in executing God’s master plan of your life.

May the world know that those that saw a terrorist in you never saw a warrior of justice and a commander of human rights and peaceful co-existence. May the world understand that you were presented just at the right time to share your leadership anointing that has taught us the power of forgiveness and re-birth.

May the world know that you taught us to be tolerant of our weakness but stubborn in our belief and protection of human dignity achieved through respecting the fundamentals of looking into each other through eyes that are not jaundiced by any design of prejudice.

As you enjoy this day, may those eyes see and enjoy the fruit of your toil for a changed nation. May those ears hear and receive echoes of our indebtedness to your generous spirit. May your heart be strengthened to lift many a troubled soul and may your many years to come engrave in our mind a sense of pursuing a fulfilling, meaningful and purposeful life into which GOD has ushered us..

May I therefore thank you for your life and vision. I thank you for creating a future of hope for many that may not have lived in the squalor of the past and for those yet to be born in a free society.

Happy birthday MADIBA!!