Nelson Mandela turned 90 today, and he used the occasion to talk to reporters about the plight of South Africa’s poor, the BBC reports. “If you are poor, you are not likely to live long,” he said. “There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate.”
Mandela officially retired from public life in 2004 and has since championed a number of causes, including poverty relief. His official birthday party will take place tomorrow in his home village of Qunu, where three cows will be slaughtered for the festivities. Celebrations have been going on abroad for weeks, including a June concert in London. (More Nelson Mandela stories.)