Continued activism and philanthropy: 1999–2004
Mandela visiting the London School of Economics in 2000
Retiring in June 1999, Mandela sought a quiet family life, to be divided between Johannesburg and Qunu. He set about authoring a sequel to his first autobiography, to be titled The Presidential Years, but it was abandoned before publication.[278] Finding such seclusion difficult, he reverted to a busy public life with a daily programme of tasks, meeting with world leaders and celebrities, and when in Johannesburg worked with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, founded in 1999 to focus on rural development, school construction, and combating HIV/AIDS.[279] Although he had been heavily criticised for failing to do enough to fight the pandemic during his presidency, he devoted much of his time to the issue following his retirement, describing it as "a war" that had killed more than "all previous wars", and urged Mbeki's government to ensure that HIV+ South Africans had access to anti-retrovirals.[280] In 2000, the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament was founded, hosted by Gary Player.[281] Mandela was successfully treated for prostate cancer in July 2001.[282]