Former president Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday that the legacy left by anti-apartheid icon and former statesman Nelson Mandela posed a serious challenge to all South Africans to walk in the giant footsteps of Mandela and try to realise his principles every day. 

"I think it poses a challenge to all of us as South Africans because everybody says we must honour the legacy and the slogan is to be the legacy of Nelson Mandela. Now we have the challenge to translate that into practical issue. We shouldn't just make slogans. It's a big challenge," Mbeki said. 

"I think to be the legacy of Mandela must actually mean that we achieve actual move forward with regards to matters that are in our Constitution and how to establish a non-racial and a non-sexist society. It's relatively easy to say those things, but to achieve them as I think all of us have seen over the last 24 years, is not easy."

Mbeki was speaking at the Nelson Mandela Foundation's sod-turning event to turn Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg, into a world-class boutique hotel as part of his centenary celebrations.

The event was attended by the Foundation's chairperson Professor Njabulo Ndebele, advocate George Bizos, and anti-apartheid activist Sophie de Bruyn. The Nelson Mandela Foundation has partnered with Thebe Investment to realise the hotel. 

Mbeki said that South African society needs to do an introspection on what it has done that has not really worked and what needs to be fixed.