JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Staff members presented former President Nelson Mandela with a cake Monday and sang “Happy Birthday,” as gifts and tributes poured in from around the world on the eve of his 88th birthday.

It took Mandela several attempts to blow out all the candles on the large blue-and-white cake, decorated with strawberries, the highlight of a private party at his Nelson Mandela Foundation. Laughing and applauding, some staff members helped him finish the job.

Mandela thanked employees and volunteers for helping him celebrate 88 years.

“In my younger days, I never imagined that such an occasion would come,” he told them, smiling broadly in footage provided by the South African Broadcasting Corp. “This is a wonderful occasion. To be loved by people with whom you work is something very important.”

Mandela, leaning on a cane and supported by his wife, Graca Machel, then toured an exhibition of photographs of his life and legacy.

Mandela’s July 18 birthday draws attention from around the world. His gifts this year include cigars and rum from Cuban President Fidel Castro, and shoes from women in his home province of the Eastern Cape, Mandela spokeswoman Zelda Le Grange told SABC.

Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid. He was released in 1990 to lead negotiations to end decades of racist white rule and elected president in South Africa’s first free elections in 1994. He left office in 1999, but has continued to take a leading role in the fight against poverty, illiteracy and AIDS in Africa.

Mandela plans to celebrate his actual birthday – and the anniversary of his marriage – privately with family.