The City squad, CEO Garry Cook and some of the backroom team met Mr Mandela at the headquarters of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in Houghton, Johannesburg on Thursday lunchtime.
The Fund was established by the former president in the 1990s, and is now a funding-cum-development agency that seeks to change the ways in which society treats its children and youth in order to improve their conditions and lives in South Africa.
Mr Mandela met the squad individually and was delighted to be presented with a City shirt with “Mandela 91” on the back to mark his 91st birthday, which fell last Saturday. The lads then surprised him with a rendition of ‘happy birthday’!
Mark Hughes summed everyone’s feelings up when he told mcfc.co.uk, “It was a huge honour to meet Mr Mandela, and I know that all the lads were deeply touched that he took the time to meet us. He’s an inspirational figure and none of us that were lucky enough to meet him will forget today.”
