The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Qunu

Nelson Mandela, the icon of the anti-apartheid movement and South Africa's first black president, was marking his 90th birthday Friday as tributes poured in from around the world.

Mandela, whose stint as head of state between 1994-99 came after three decades behind bars, was 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 t 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.

"We don't want to give too much away as it would be like knowing what's in a present before opening it," she told AFP.