Veteran actress and social activist Shabana Azmi remembered former South African President Nelson Mandela on his 100th birth anniversary. "I am blessed to have met Nelson Mandela twice. What a giant of a man. His ideology of non violence ,truth and reconciliation is needed yesterday more than ever. On his 100th birth centenary my deepest respect," Shabana tweeted on Tuesday.

Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. He became an elder statesman and focused on combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the charitable Nelson Mandela Foundation.