Mandela throws giant children's Christmas party
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QUNU, South Africa (Reuters) -- Thousands of young South Africans flocked to see the grandfather of the nation on Thursday as former president Nelson Mandela hosted his annual children's Christmas party.
The Nobel laureate hugged and chatted to dozens of awe-struck children -- many of them catching their first glimpse of the 85-year-old -- before guests watched a show and patiently waited to receive gifts of food, books and school uniforms in a two kilometer (more than one mile) long line.
"Christmas without Mandela cannot be Christmas," said father-of-seven Mzwangile Makaula. "Ever since he was released from jail he has been doing a terrific job."
Organisers successfully avoided a repeat of the chaotic scenes that marred last year's event, when 20,000 turned up -- three times more than expected -- injuring several children in a crush that forced security guards to cut down fences.
Up to 15,000 parents and their children who had waited outside Mandela's farm from before dawn spilled into the giant venue in his home village of Qunu set among the rolling green hills of the Eastern Cape -- one of South Africa's poorest provinces.
As Mandela rose to speak, party-goers surged forward to hear their hero who appealed to big business to help stage children's parties in each of South Africa's nine provinces.
"Please help us so that we can make our children, at least once a year, very happy indeed," a sprightly-looking Mandela told his guests under an overcast summer sky.
"It must be all over the country so that children can understand that we love them."
Stage acts following Mandela's speech included Kami, the world's first HIV-positive Sesame Street Muppet from the local version of the famous television series, and nine-year-old AIDS orphan, Gabatshwane Gumede, who sang a song praising Mandela.
Both were a poignant reminder of South Africa's devastating AIDS epidemic, where 5.3 million live with the disease, some 250,000 of them children and with an army of orphans trailing in its wake.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
