To quote Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela is one of a few individuals whose lives are/were celebrated while still alive. Let me use Twitter stats to illustrate how big Nelson Mandela is, the whole world round.
“Mandela” mentions – Last 7 days

In just 1 week, there were more than half a million “Mandela” mentions on Twitter. On his birthday alone, Mandela got more than 330K mentions – translating into 4 tweets a second! This puts the first president of democratic South Africa among the most mentioned persons of African descent ever.
Top “Mandela” influencers
Here are 6 of the top tweets that wished tata – father in Xhosa language – a happy birthday, confirming his continued global influence that cuts across all walks of life.

Long live, Rolihlahla. Long live!