Tributes pour in as Mandela marks his 90th birthday

Qunu: Nelson Mandela, the icon of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, is marking his 90th birthday on Friday, as tributes pour in from around the world.

Click here to watch Mandela in pictures

Mandela is to enjoy a private party with his family at his rural homestead in the Eastern Cape before a glittering bash on Saturday.

Friday also marks 10 years since Mandela's wedding to his third wife Graca Machel who has been at the head of a long queue wanting to sing his praises.

"He is simply a wonderful husband ... and we enjoy every single day as if it is the last day," Machel, the widow of the former Mozambican president Samora Machel, told CNN television.

"When we married we didn't know we'd be given 10 years together. We have been very lucky."

One of Mandela's grand-daughters, Ndileka Mandela, said the family was planning "a surprise" for him in Qunu.

"For him it is a special day, but for all of us too."

Celebrations of Mandela's birthday have been ongoing for several weeks, including a massive concert last month in Hyde Park, London, to raise funds for his AIDS charity while limited edition coins and stamps bearing his image have been launched to also generate money for his charitable foundation.

The current South African President Thabo Mbeki and the new leader of Mandela's beloved African National Congress (ANC) Jacob Zuma are among a group of some 500 guests due to attend Saturday's get-together in Qunu.

But events are also taking place up and down the country, including a boxing tournament in honour of the former amateur pugilist, and a concert in Johannesburg's landmark Mandela Square.

Ahead of his birthday, hundreds of thousands of well-wishers have been paying their respects on special websites, in newspaper notices and on radio stations.