African National Congress party officials have announced that former South African President Nelson Mandela will not attend this weekend's celebrations marking the ANC's 100th anniversary. The anti-apartheid icon will miss the event because of the frailties of age (he is 93 years old). A party official said Mandela is not sick and is in "good spirits."
Mandela and the ANC were the prime fighters against the apartheid, white-minority government in South Africa. After decades of fighting, Mandela became president in 1994, and the ANC has ruled the country ever since.
While the ANC's presence has been welcomed since it took over the South African government, its popularity has decreased in recent years because of its inability, critics say, to deliver basic services and tackle rampant corruption in the country.
The celebrations began Friday, with the main event occurring Sunday, when the organization will celebrate the date of its formation: Jan. 8, 1912. The event will celebrate the party's core principles of building a "united, nonracial and nonsexist nation."
Read more at VOA News.
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