Ready To Retire

Saying he has done his duty for South Africa and its people, President Nelson Mandela said Monday he intends to retire into obscurity and leave the national and international stages. “I have played my role. It is time for younger people to play a role,” the president said at a farewell breakfast with journalists. Mandela - who symbolized the anti-apartheid struggle and became one of the world’s leading political prisoners during his 27 years behind bars - became president of South Africa in its first democratic election in 1994. He will retire June 16 when the country inaugurates a new president.