Former president Nelson Mandela will not have a high-profile birthday -- on July 18 -- this year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Thursday.

Chief executive John Samuel said Mandela's 87th birthday celebrations will focus on talks and lectures presented by international guest speakers.

"This is a side of Mr Mandela that we want to continue, not just the glitz and glamour," Samuel told reporters at the foundation's head office in Houghton, Johannesburg.

He said the highlight of the celebrations, which will start on July 11, is the Nelson Mandela annual lecture presented by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, environmentalist Wangari Maathai from Kenya.

The lecture will take place on July 19 at the Mandela Theatre at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre complex in Braamfontein.

Mandela and previous speakers from the 2003 and 2004 lectures, former US president Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will be present at the lecture.

"The lecture has developed into a prestigious public address, giving a platform for the world's most prominent leaders and thinkers," said Samuel.

Samuel said Clinton and Tutu will be part of a panel that will interact with the public, allowing them to ask questions.

From July 13 to 22, the Human Sciences Research Council's Social Cohesion and Identity Research Programme will host public lectures under the theme 'The Meaning of Mandela'.

The first lecture will be delivered by Cornel West under the topic 'Democracy Matters and the Meaning of Mandela' . This will be followed by Henry Louis Gates Jnr on 'WEB du Bois, Encyclopaedia Africana and Nelson Mandela', and the series will end with Wole Soyinka on 'Views from Palettes of the Cultural Rainbow'.

The celebrations will also see the launch of the Nelson Mandela comic series on July 14, which will be circulated at schools and made available to various news publications for free.

Samuel said the comic strip aims to teach young South Africans about Mandela's life in an "imaginative" way.

He said at the end of the series, the comic strip will be compiled into a book.

Another highlight of the celebrations will be the Nelson Mandela Rugby Challenge, which will see the Springbok rugby team playing against Australia at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on July 23.

South African Rugby Union president Brian van Rooyen said the Springbok team will wear jerseys displaying Mandela's prison number, 46664, and the number will also be painted on the rugby field to raise awareness about HIV/Aids.

"The significance of the game is more than the fact that we are celebrating the life of Madiba," said Van Rooyen.

"Ellis Park is the venue where the then president wore the Springbok jersey as he celebrated with South Africa when we were crowned world champions."

He said the match will also be used to campaign for the bid for South Africa to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Other activities include the announcement of "46664 ambassadors" on July 11 at the foundation's offices in Houghton. These are musician Dozi, 'Morning Live' presenter Leanne Manas and actress Kim Engelbrecht.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund will on July 20 celebrate the elderly statesman's July 18 birthday by hosting a group of orphans and vulnerable children at its offices in Johannesburg.

Mandela's spokesperson, Zelda le Grange, said Madiba will spend his birthday, on July 18, with his family at his home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape.

She said it will be a private celebration and the media will not be allowed in.

The celebrations end on July 23. -- Sapa