Nelson Mandela passes away
Posted December 5, 2013 1:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PRETORIA, South Africa (NEWS1130) – Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, has passed away.
“Our thoughts are with the South African people, who today mourn the loss of the one person who, more than any other, came to embody their sense of a common nation. Our thoughts are with the millions of people across the world who embraced Madiba as their own and who saw his cause as their cause,” said Jacob Zuma, the country’s current president.
“This is the moment of our deepest sorrow. Our nation has lost its greatest son. Yet, what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves. And in him, we saw so much of ourselves.”
“Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will be bid him farewell,” added Zuma.
Mourners also say it is a time to celebrate the achievements of the iconic former South African president and anti-apartheid leader.
One Johannesburg resident, 31-year-old Hamsa Moosa, said after the 95-year-old Mandela died that he “wouldn’t be free” if not for the man affectionately known by his clan name “Madiba.”
A 29-year-old accountant, Thumelo Madikwe, says Mandela played his role in the world “very well” and that he lived a long life.
Mandela’s death has closed the final chapter in South Africa’s struggle to cast off apartheid, leaving the world with indelible memories of a man of astonishing grace and good humour.
Mandela became South Africa’s first black president in post apartheid years after being jailed for 27 years in his fight against his country’s white rulers.
He had been convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for leading a campaign of sabotage against the government. But as president, he failed to craft a lasting formula for overcoming South Africa’s biggest post-apartheid problems, including one of the world’s widest gaps between rich and poor.
A state funeral will be held for Mandela.
“I have ordered that all flags of the Republic of South Africa be lowered to half mast from tomorrow… and to remain at half-mast until after the funeral,” noted Zuma.
The anti-apartheid icon was 95 years old.
In the United States, President Barack Obama said, “He achieved more than can be expected of any man. Today he’s gone home. We’ve lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings…He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages.”
Obama said he was among millions who drew inspiration from Mandela’s life and said his first political action was to protest against apartheid.
“The day he was released from prison gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they’re guided by their hopes and not by their fears,” Obama said.
Overseas, British Prime Minister David Cameron posted on Twitter, “A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero of our time. I’ve asked for the flag at No10 to be flown at half mast.”
Born in 1912 to the Thembu royal family, Mandela studied law and moved to Johannesburg where he became a part of the anti-colonial movement.
In 1961 he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe and led a bombing campaign against government targets. The next year Mandela was arrested and convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.
He served 27 years in prison before an international campaign lobbying for his release was successful in February 1990.
His release was broadcast live around the world and would become a quintessential moment in the end of apartheid.
Mandela was married three times, had six children and 17 grandchildren.
