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The ANCWL would like to wish tata Madiba a very happy 94th birthday. We would like to express our extreme gratitude to the man who gave us so much to be proud of as a nation. Nelson Mandela has taught us what we know about peace, reconciliation and forgiveness. He is a visionary who showed us as a nation the bigger picture, and taught us to embrace our differences, and to love and respect each other.

He is a man who leads by example and inspired the globe to follow in his good stead by donating 67 minutes of our time on Mandela day to a good cause. He dedicated his life to the fight for freedom and the betterment of South African, and started something very special as the first president of the rainbow nation. But, in his own words, we must never stop moving forward as a nation.

"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended." -- Nelson Mandela

As we celebrate 100 years of the ANC and look at where we have come from as an organisation and as a nation, we can take a minute to look back with pride, but as Madiba says the journey is not yet over. Let us this Mandela day embrace the legacy of our nation's greatest citizen by embracing each other as nation. The greatest gift we can give Madiba on his birthday is to continue the good work he started by working towards a truly socially cohesive society and continuing his dream of a rainbow nation.