South Africa launches gold coin for Mandela anniversary

South Africa have launched a limited edition of bank notes and gold coins to mark the 100th anniversary on 18 July of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

The South African Reserve Bank said the notes depict key moments of Mandela's life including his upbringing in rural Eastern Cape as the son of a chief, his 27-year incarceration and the end of apartheid in 1994 when he became president.

The launch forms part of events across the world, which will culminate locally in an annual Mandela Day lecture by former US president Barack Obama next week.

Mandela died in 2013 aged 95.

The gold coin was designed by Zimbabwe-born Sindiso Nyoni.

"Growing up and living most of my life under a dictatorship, we were not able to experience this feeling of democracy that South Africans have," he is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.