The 100th birthday of former President and anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela will be celebrated by renovating and opening his grave site for public viewing.

Mandela, who died in December 2013 aged 95, was buried in Qunu, Eastern Cape. Tokyo Sexwale – a former cabinet minister and trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation – announced the plans, which would offer the public a place of reflection over the legacy left by Mandela.

The announcement was part of "Nelson Mandela Centenary 2018 Be the Legacy" – a two-year programme to honour the former President.

The celebration will include a number of activities through the year, both in South Africa and abroad, with a number of activities scheduled ranging from education and the arts to exhibitions and sport.

South Africa’s Eastern Cape provincial cabinet has already approved the Qunu development The new site, alongside Mandela’s birthplace in Mvezo, fierce apartheid opponent Chris Hani’s birthplace in Cofimvaba, and former law firm partner of Mandela and apartheid revolutionary Oliver Tambo’s birthplace in Mbizana, will form part of a new “liberation heritage trail”.