Johannesburg: South African President Jacob Zuma has confirmed the news that Nelson Mandela has died, aged 95.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son.": South Africa President Jacob Zuma announces the death of Nelson Mandela. Photo: AP
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family," he said.
Advertisement
"To them we owe a debt of gratitude. They have sacrificed much and endured much so that our people could be free.
"Our thoughts are with the millions of people across the world who embraced him.
Dead at 95: Nelson Mandela. Photo: AFP
"This is the moment of our deepest sorrow, our nation has lost its greatest son."
Mr Mandela, the country's first black president, died peacefully at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, after a prolonged lung infection.
The anti-apartheid icon, known in South Africa by his clan name of Madiba, emerged from 27 years in apartheid prisons to help guide South Africa through bloodshed and turmoil to democracy.
2010 World Cup: Mandela's last major appearance on the global stage. Photo: AFP
In a nationally televised address, Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela would have a full state funeral. He ordered flags to be flown at half mast until then.
"Fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rohlihla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed," Mr Zuma said.
"He passed on peacefully in the comfort of his home."
Historic figure: Nelson Mandela in 1964. Photo: Getty Images
Mr Zuma called for South Africans to unite and to farewell Mandela in a manner fitting of his legacy.
"Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell.
"As we gather to pay our last respect, let us conduct ourselves with the dignity and respect that Madiba personified.
"Be mindful of his wishes and the wishes of his children.
"May his soul rest in peace, God Bless South Africa."
Mr Mandela’s death comes during a period of deep unease and painful self-examination for South Africa. In the past year and a half, the country has faced perhaps its most serious unrest since the end of apartheid, provoked by a wave of wildcat strikes by angry miners, a deadly response on the part of the police, a messy leadership struggle within the ANC and the deepening fissures between South Africa’s rulers and its impoverished masses.
At Mr Mandela's home in Johannesburg, neighbours began gathering, chanting "Viva Mandela, Viva," while wiping away tears.
Several hundred people waved South African flags and held up candles about 50 metres from the entrance of the house.
‘‘I’m still in disbelief,’’ Pule Ngwenya, a 16-year-old student who lives in the area, said.
‘‘He represents hope for me. He shows that if you believe in something and it’s the right thing, you can achieve. Without him we’d have been a fatherless nation.’’
Groups of people danced and sang in Vilakazi Street in Soweto, outside the home that’s now a museum, where Mr Mandela lived before being imprisoned.
‘‘None of us is immortal but he was a great friend,’’ George Bizos, a personal friend and the lawyer who represented Mr Mandela at his treason trial in 1963, said in an interview broadcast on Johannesburg’s eNCA television channel.
‘‘We know that we will not find another.’’
US President Barack Obama said the life and achievements of Mr Mandela were a touchstone for him and millions of others and served as an example "that all humanity should aspire to".
"I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Mandela's life," Mr Obama said.
"So long as I live, I will do what I can to learn from him.
"He achieved more than can be expected of any man," Mr Obama said. "He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the ages."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said "a great light has gone out in the world", but that Mr Mandela's legacy would be his ability to inspire future generations.
"I believe that his inspiration for the future will be every bit as powerful as the extraordinary things that he acheived in his remarkable life," he said.
Prince William, who was attending the premiere of the film about Mr Mandela's life when news of his death came through, said it was "extremely sad and tragic news".
"It's just reminded what an extraodinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was."
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Mr Mandela was "a truly great man".
"Nelson Mandela was one of the great figures of Africa, arguably one of the great figures of the last century," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Mandela rose from rural obscurity to challenge the might of white minority apartheid government - a struggle that gave the 20th century one of its most respected and loved figures.
He was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid in 1960, but was quick to preach reconciliation and forgiveness when the country's white minority began easing its grip on power 30 years later.
Mr Mandela, imprisoned for nearly three decades, was elected president in landmark all-race elections in 1994 and retired in 1999.
He was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1993, an honour he shared with F.W. de Klerk, the white Afrikaner leader and then president, who released from jail arguably the world's most famous political prisoner.
As president, Mr Mandela faced the monumental task of forging a new nation from the deep racial injustices left over from the apartheid era, making reconciliation the theme of his time in office.
The hallmark of Mr Mandela's mission was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which probed apartheid crimes on both sides of the struggle and tried to heal the country's wounds. It also provided a model for other countries torn by civil strife.
In 1999, Mr Mandela handed over power to younger leaders better equipped to manage a modern economy - a rare voluntary departure from power for an African leader.
In retirement, he shifted his energies to battling South Africa's AIDS crisis and the struggle became personal when he lost his only surviving son to the disease in 2005.
Mr Mandela's last major appearance on the global stage came in 2010 when he attended the championship match of the soccer World Cup, where he received a thunderous ovation from the 90,000 at the stadium in Soweto, the neighbourhood in which he cut his teeth as a resistance leader.
Charged with capital offences in the infamous 1963 Rivonia Trial, his statement from the dock was his political testimony.
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.
"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic, free society in which all persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities.
"It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
"How does one judge his place in history? Of all the people I have met, he was by far the greatest. I do not know anyone who could stand near to him. In the pages of history, there would be few who would stand as an equal."
Mr Fraser said Mr Mandela did not harbour grudges, but instead always looked for a way forward.
"His sense of forgiveness and of justice was immense. His sense of equity was absolute.
"We can learn from his example. He leaves a legacy that all subsequent leaders should seek to emulate."
Nelson Mandela, 1918-1995
1918: Rolihlahla Mandela born on July 18 in village of Mvezo.
1925: Becomes first in his family to attend school where teacher dubs him Nelson.
1937: Attends college in Fort Beaufort.
1944: Two years after joining ANC, Mandela forms ANC Youth League. Marries Evelyn Mase.
1948: National Party comes to power on policy of apartheid. ANC launches campaign of passive resistance.
1952: Mandela sets up law firm with Oliver Tambo.
1953: ANC fears it will be banned so Mandela assigned to ensure it can work underground.
1956: He and 155 others charged with treason. After four-year trial, charges dropped.
1957: Divorces Evelyn.
1958: Marries Winnie Madikizela.
1960: On March 21, police kill 69 people protesting in Sharpeville against restrictions on freedom of movement. State of emergency declared; ANC banned.
1961: ANC forms underground military wing. Mandela, now ANC vice-president, appointed group’s leader.
1962: Mandela arrested for leaving country illegally. Jailed for five years.
1963: While in prison, he and fellow ANC members charged with sabotage and treason.
1964: Mandela and seven others given life sentences. Jailed on Robben Island.
1969: Mandela’s son Thembi killed in a car crash.
1982: Mandela moved to Pollsmoor Prison.
1990: On February 11, Mandela freed after 27 years as apartheid is relaxed and ANC ban lifted.
1991: Mandela elected ANC president; Winnie Mandela given suspended sentence for her part in 1988 murder of Stompie Seipei. She and Nelson separate.
1993: Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1994: South Africans vote in first democratic election. Mandela elected first black president. Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s deputy, takes over running of government so Mandela can promote country around the world.
1995: Mandela reaches out to Afrikaner population by publicly endorsing the Springboks, who win rugby World Cup on home soil.1996. Divorces Winnie.
1998: Marries Graca Machel.
1999: Mbeki takes over from Mandela as president; wins election.
2004: Mandela announces retirement.
2005: Mandela’s son Makgatho dies of AIDS-related illness.
2010: Mandela makes surprise appearance at soccer World Cup final in Johannesburg.
2013: Mandela dies aged 95.
Source: BBC, Nelson Mandela Foundation
- with Reuters, Bloomberg
