Has South Africa betrayed Mr Mandela's legacy?
Nelson Mandela celebrates his 90th birthday today as a widely revered statesman, but South Africa faces a host of problems that challenge the dream he embodies of a harmonious rainbow nation.
Mr Mandela, imprisoned for 27 years but forgiving of his former captors, is hailed as a shining example of the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
His smile and sense of humour have made him a treasured international icon.
He is rare among African leaders in agreeing to give up power quickly, after only one term following the 1994 end of apartheid.
He transcends races and opinions in South Africa itself, acclaimed by all sides of society including the whites whose rule he fought to overthrow.
Yet his birthday comes at a time of crisis in the country under the rule of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, widely attacked for failures in fighting AIDS, poverty, a major power crisis, violent crime and the disaster in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Describing how Mr Mbeki was hailed when he became president, Financial Mail editor Barney Mthombothi wrote this week: "Needless to say, their prince has turned out to be a frog."
He added: "Mandela united the country. Mbeki has divided it ... It's sad to see the current lot trashing his legacy."
Some analysts say the idea that Mandela represented a golden age of hope now betrayed is false.
Many South Africans, especially the more educated, are leaving for other countries and others are talking about it.
A leaked research report commissioned by the government shows that 36 per cent of the population are no longer committed to the country and 29 percent are considering emigration, the Mail & Guardian weekly newspaper reported.
Mr Mbeki is accused by trade unions and the leftwingers in his own ruling African National Congress of business-friendly policies that have delayed bringing the fruits of black rule to the legions of poor.
Unemployment stands at around 23 per cent.
Chronology: Life and times of Nelson Mandela
July 18, 1918: Born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela near Qunu, in Transkei (now Eastern Cape), the youngest son of a counsellor to the chief of his Thembu clan.
1944 - Founds African National Congress (ANC) Youth League with Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu. Marries his first wife Evelyn, with whom he had a daughter and two sons. They were divorced in 1957.
1952 - Mandela and others arrested and charged under Suppression of Communism Act; given suspended prison sentence. Elected deputy national president of ANC.
1958 - Marries Winnie Madikizela after his divorce from Evelyn. They separated in April 1992 and were divorced nearly four years later.
1962 - Leaves country secretly. Goes for military training in Algeria. Returning to South Africa, the Black Pimpernel is captured and sentenced to five years for incitement and illegally leaving the country.
1963 - While serving five-year sentence, Mr Mandela is charged with conspiracy and sabotage.
June 12, 1964 - Mr Mandela and seven others are sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island, off Cape Town.
February 2, 1990 - FW de Klerk, South Africa's last white president, lifts ban from ANC and other liberation movements. Mr Mandela is freed on February 11.
1991 - Elected president of the ANC.
October 1993 - Wins Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk.
May 10, 1994 - Mr Mandela is inaugurated in Pretoria as South Africa's first black president.
December 1997 - Hands leadership of ANC to Deputy President Thabo Mbeki in first stage of phased transfer of power.
July 18, 1998 - Marks 80th birthday with marriage to Graca Machel, widow of Mozambican President Samora Machel.
June 16, 1999 - Retires, hands power to Mr Mbeki.
June 1, 2004 - Announces he will cut back public schedule.
January 6, 2005 - Announces that only surviving son Makgatho Mandela has died from AIDS at the age of 54.
November 1, 2006 - Mr Mandela receives Amnesty International's 2006 Ambassador of Conscience award for being a moral beacon in a world plagued by human rights abuses.
July 18, 2007 - Celebrates 89th birthday. Launches an international group of elder statesmen, to tackle world problems including climate change, HIV/AIDS and poverty.
August 29, 2007 - Britain honours Mr Mandela by unveiling a bronze statue alongside Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln in London's Parliament Square.
June 25, 2008 - Mr Mandela uses a speech at a dinner in London to condemn a "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe.
June 26, 2008 - US lawmakers erase references to Mr Mandela as a terrorist from national databases.
June 27, 2008 - Stars pay tribute to Mandela, celebrating his 90th birthday, in London's Hyde Park.
Factbox about his life
Summary of former South African President, Nelson Mandela.
Early life:
• Born July 18, 1918, son of a counsellor to the paramount chief of the Thembu people near Qunu in what is now Eastern Cape. He is widely known in South Africa by his clan name, Madiba.
• Anti-apartheid campaigner: Mr Mandela devoted his life to the fight against white domination, leaving Fort Hare university in the early 1940s before completing his studies. He founded the ANC Youth League with Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu.
• Mr Mandela was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid, going underground in 1961 to form the ANC's armed wing - Umkhonto we Sizwe (the Spear of the Nation).
• Charged with capital offences in the infamous 1963 Rivonia Trial, his statement from the dock was his political testimony. "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Mr Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964.
From prison to President:
• FW de Klerk, South Africa's last white President, finally lifted the ban on the ANC and other liberation movements and Mandela was freed on February 11, 1990.
• A year later he was elected president of the ANC and in May 1994 was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. He used his charisma and prestige to achieve reconciliation, setting up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe crimes by both sides in the anti-apartheid struggle.
• In 1999, Mr Mandela handed over to younger leaders better equipped to manage a modern economy - a rare voluntary departure from power cited as an example to African leaders.
Family life:
• Restful retirement was not on the cards as Mr Mandela shifted his energies to battling South Africa's AIDS crisis raising millions of dollars to fight the disease.
• His struggle against AIDS became starkly personal in early 2005 when he lost his only surviving son to the disease.
• The country also shared the pain of Mr Mandela's humiliating divorce in 1996 from Winnie Mandela, his second wife, and watched his courtship of Graca Machel, widow of Mozambican President Samora Machel, whom he married on his 80th birthday in 1998.
• Last year Mr Mandela celebrated his 89th birthday by launching an international group of elder statesmen, including fellow Nobel peace laureates Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter, to tackle world problems including climate change, HIV/AIDS and poverty.