S Africa marks 27th anniversary of Mandela's release from jail

South Africa today marked the 27th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison as a political prisoner.
Mandela walked out of prison on February 11, 1990 addressing thousands form the balcony of the Cape Town city hall as a free man.
"As we reflect on Madiba's first moments of freedom it is important that we do not isolate them from the present South African experience," the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.
"Just as the moment Madiba stepped out of jail and gave us hope for a just and unified South Africa, our memory of it should stir in us a determination to address challenges of inequality, poverty and social exclusion we face today," it said.

The Foundation will return to the suburb of Orlando East in Soweto on Monday at what was then Donaldson Orlando Community Centre, where Mandela used to train, mainly as a boxer, in the 1950s, to launch its Nelson Mandela Centenary programme.
The Foundation announced it will host a series of events to celebrate the centenary of his birth on July 18, 1918.

"We at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, believe that as a society if we apply Madiba's humility, tact and penchant for dialogue, we can face the challenges that threaten South Africa.
"As we reflect on an unforgettable South African moment, let us be sure not to see it in isolation. The #27for27 campaign calls on us to reflect on our past, engage on the present and imagine the future the way we would want to see it," the statement concluded.

Mandela, who passed on three years ago, only served one term as South Africa's first democratically-elected President and stepped down in June 1999.
In Cape Town, the iconic 111-year-old City Hall will undergo a series of upgrades over the next three years, at a cost of coincidentally of also 27 million rand.