Tears fell across the world last night as it was
confirmed that South Africa’s “greatest son” Nelson Mandela had died aged 95.
The former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
passed away peacefully at his home in Johannesburg surrounded by his family at
8.50pm local time.
South Africa had dreaded this moment for decades,
and the country was brought to a standstill by the news that “Madiba” –
Mandela’s clan name – had finally lost his battle against a recurring lung
infection.
The country’s president Jacob Zuma announced the
devastating news in a television address.
A sombre Mr Zuma said: “Fellow South Africans. Our
beloved Nelson Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation has
departed.
“He
passed on peacefully. Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have
lost a father. Although we knew this day would come, nothing can diminish our
sense of a profound and enduring loss.
“His
tireless struggle for freedom, earned him the respect of the world. His
humility, his compassion and his humanity earned him their love.
“Our
thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. 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 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
nationhood.
“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.
“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.
“Our
beloved Madiba will be accorded a state funeral I’ve 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.
“Let
us recall the values for which Madiba fought. Let us reaffirm his vision of a
society in which none is exploited, oppressed or dispossessed by another.
“We
will always love you, Madiba. May your soul rest in peace. God bless Africa.”
The news of his death has caused an unprecedented
international outpouring of grief from the streets of Soweto to presidential
palaces.
South Africa’s liberation hero and first
democratically elected president will be remembered as a global icon.
Mandela ended years of apartheid and brought peace
and equality to South Africa.
After generations where people in South Africa were
discriminated against and oppressed under apartheid because of the colour of
their skin, Mandela achieved the impossible.
Not only did he liberate his country but he refused to
seek revenge for the long years of oppression.
Even more remarkably, Mandela led South Africa after
spending 27 years in jail, much of it sentenced to hard labour on remote Robben
Island. The world’s most famous political prisoner was freed in 1990 and served
as South Africa’s President from 1994 to 1999.
Both his ex-wife, Winnie Mandela and Graca Machel,
who he married on his 80th birthday, were thought to have been by his side last
night, along with his children.
The years on Robben Island took a great personal
toll on Mandela, and he had suffered from a series of lung problems in recent
years. He was most recently admitted to hospital in June.
While Mandela was living his last days at home, his
large complicated family have been consumed by disputes over his burial and
legacy. It has been an acrimonious and highly public feud.
During three marriages, twice-divorced Mandela had
six children, 17 grandchildren and 12 surviving great-grandchildren.
But he outlived three of his children, all of them
buried in his ancestral home of Qunu in a remote, rural corner of the Eastern
Cape.
Two years ago, Mandela’s grandson Mandla secretly
moved their bodies to the village of Mvezo, several miles away – allegedly to
ensure that his grandfather would also be buried there.
Mandla had plans for a heritage centre at the site –
that would bring the Mandela faithful flocking for generations.
The remains are of Makgatho Mandela, Mandela’s son
and Mandla’s father – who died from Aids-related illness in 2005 – and his
siblings, Thembekile, who was killed in a car accident in 1969, and Makaziwe,
his first daughter who died when she was nine months old.
Following a legal battle this year, the court ruled
that the bodies should be exhumed and returned to Qunu, where Mandela has
expressly
said that he wants to be buried alongside his
children.
The children’s remains were reburied last week at
their original site following forensic tests to determine their identities and
a solemn ceremony that family members and elders of Mandela’s clan attended.
In a separate dispute over Mr Mandela’s legacy, his
daughters Makaziwe and Zenani have gone to court in a bid to oust three of his
aides from Mr Mandela’s companies. The two want control over a legacy said to
be worth millions of dollars.
Some elders from his clan said that while his family
was at war, his spirit was unable to find peace. Retired Archbishop Desmond
Tutu has said the dispute is “almost like spitting in Mandela’s face”.
Mandela’s wife Graca has alone been praised for her
dignity and restraint in remaining by her husband’s bedside and staying out of
the family in-fighting.
She even refused to leave Mandela’s side to see
President Obama who visited South Africa and spent time on Robben Island this
year.
She has said: “I think the best gift which he has
given this nation again is the gift of unity.” Meanwhile, Winnie has said she
will always love her former husband. She added: “I always will, he’s the father
of my children. Nothing changed because he was married to someone else.”
After a period of mourning that will follow Xhosa
custom, world leaders will now fly to Qunu for the world’s most watched
funeral.
Mandela stood down after just one term as president
in 1999 aged 81, saying it was a job for a younger man. He was diagnosed with
prostate cancer two years later.
In 2004, he retired to his childhood home, dropping
out of the spotlight but still making fleeting appearances. His last global
public appearance was as a surprise spectator at the 2010 World Cup Final in
Johannesburg.
A previous stay at a public hospital in January 2011
with a chest infection caused chaos in the streets outside as crowds gathered.
The South African military took charge of his care
and the government controlled the information about his health to maintain
calm. In 2012, he had surgery to remove gallstones and was treated once more
for a recurring lung infection.
During his final months, Mandela was rarely seen in
public.
A short video in May, 2012, showed him sitting in a
chair looking frail as the ANC – the party he once led – brought him their
flame for their centenary celebrations.
His loss will be mourned not just by South Africans
learning to let go of Madiba, but by people around the world.
In almost 10 decades of life, he was a lawyer,
convicted terrorist, leader of the ANC and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. To
many who followed him in the spotlight, he was simply a hero in the fight
against white supremacy.
During his lifetime he was given nearly 700 awards,
including the US Congressional Medal.
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