He's 95 and the world loves him

As birthday messages came flooding in from all corners of the world, former president Nelson Mandela, surrounded by close family, celebrated not only his 95th birthday but also a remarkable improvement in his health.

Yesterday was also his 15th wedding anniversary.

Graça Machel, his third wife, has been at his bedside almost constantly since his admission to the Pretoria Mediclinic Heart Hospital on June 8 for a recurring lung infection.

Mandela's family, including Machel, gathered at the hospital for a celebration lunch yesterday. His granddaughter, Ndileka, said the birthday meal included Mandela's favourites - oxtail, prawns, dumplings and vegetables.

The family gave him a collage of family photographs as a birthday present.

Mandela's faltering health lent poignancy to the day's events.

"We never knew [that] on this day Madiba would be looking at us and be smiling and alert," Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said after visiting him yesterday.

President Jacob Zuma said the improvement in Madiba's health was encouraging.

"He continues to respond to treatment and we are encouraged by that. When I visited him today I found him really stable and I was able to say 'Happy birthday' and he was able to smile."

Mandela's daughter Zindzi Mandela-Motlhajwa said Mandela's health was much better than expected.

"I would like to assure you, though I am not a medical doctor, that Tata is making remarkable progress and we look forward to having him back at home soon," she said.

Mandela's daughter said she often teased her father by saying: "Our father who art in Houghton."

"We would like to have him there [in Houghton, Johannesburg], not in hospital."

When Zuma arrived at the hospital a military brass band played the national anthem before the large crowd that had gathered to wish Mandela well.

Church leaders were among those present.

"When someone has done good, it's our duty to thank God for sending us such a person," said the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party, the Rev Kenneth Meshoe .

In Cape Town, church leaders formed a human chain as part of Madiba's birthday celebrations.

Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba was among the 2 000 people who formed the chain along Klipfontein Road to "commit ourselves to the Mandela dream of a united South Africa free from poverty".

"Even though the chain didn't connect, there is a wonderful rainbow chain down here," said Makgoba.

Mandela's close friend, retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, hailed Madiba's "magnetic power" and described him as a remarkable man with the incredible capacity of "drawing us together".

At exactly 8am, almost 13million schoolchildren sang Happy Birthday to Mandela and people from all walks of life embarked on charitable work across the world to mark Mandela Day.

Seven of his grandchildren - including Ndaba, Ndileka, Zinhle and Lindo - spent their time tending the garden at the SOS Children's Home, in Mamelodi East.

At the Nelson Mandela Museum, in Qunu, Eastern Cape, actor Meshack Mavuso and poet Lebo Mashile joined the community in planting trees and creating food gardens.

Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture Joe Phaahla donated more than 500 books to Qunu Junior Secondary School, the world icon's alma mater.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize called on every South African to become an ambassador for Mandela's legacy.

"His is a legacy of a fight for justice, a fight for peace, a fight for equality and a fight for unity," Mkhize said at the Howick site at which Mandela was arrested by apartheid police in a prelude to his long incarceration.

Birthday wishes from across the globe included those from UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who lauded Mandela as "a giant of our times", and from US President Barack Obama, who urged people to honour Mandela "through individual and collective acts of service".

US champion golfer Tiger Woods said Mandela had changed for the better not only the lives of men and women of his generation but of future generations.

Former president FW de Klerk said it was time for "quiet and respectful contemplation and not for unseemly squabbling over the ownership of Mr Mandela's heritage".

Rivonia treason triallist Ahmed Kathrada encouraged the nation to "remember what Madiba stood for and sacrificed his life for".

• "I have walked a Long Walk to Freedom. It has been a lonely road and it is not over yet," film producer Anant Singh said in his birthday message on a brief trailer for the Mandela movie Long Walk to Freedom.

In a voice strikingly similar to Mandela's, actor Idris Elba quotes Madiba as saying: "No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin. People learn to hate. They can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart." .

• "Please can we treat our elderly with respect and give them the chance to go to their grave not crying?" ," said Archbishop Tutu.

Tutu spent 67 minutes painting the walls of Marconi Beam Public Primary School after participating in the human chain.

"I think the symbol of this human chain is to show that the young and old from different religions and cultures, and from different locations, can come together and symbolise the values of Madiba."

- Additional reporting by Nivashni Nair, Philani Nombembe, Abongile Mgaqelwa, Loyiso Mpalantshane, Katharine Child, Philani Nombembe, Reuters and Sapa-AFP.