"Poverty has gripped our people," said Mr Mandela at his rural home in Qunu, surrounded by gifts from well-wishers. "If you are poor, you are not likely to live long.
"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty."
Mr Mandela was speaking deep in the impoverished Eastern Cape province, with the family he was separated from during the 27 years he spent in prison after being convicted of terrorism.
He promised "a better life for all" when he was elected president in the country's first democratic elections in 1994, but even 14 years later three in 10 South African households do not have running water, and one in five do not have electricity.
By contrast a relatively small group of black South Africans, many of them with political connections, have become extremely wealthy – the so-called "black diamonds".
Amid the formal and informal events marking his birthday, the anniversary has prompted some observers to contrast the hopes of 1994 with the fractionalisation of the governing African National Congress and the mixed record of Mr Mandela's successor Thabo Mbeki as president.
In an editorial, the Mail and Guardian newspaper said: "The sweet celebration of a life of leadership, service and generosity is mixed with the sour taste of a legacy being polluted in front of the old man's tired eyes."
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