NELSON Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, has died at the age of 95.
He passed away in the company of his family at around 8:50pm on December 5, South African President Jacob Zuma said in a statement to the nation’s people.
“He is now rested, he is now at peace,” Mr Zuma said. ”Our nation has lost its greatest son, our people have lost a father.
“But though we knew that this day would come, nothing can dimish our sense of the profound and enduring loss.
“Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish the profound and enduring loss.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family.”
The man credited with dismantling South Africa’s system of apartheid which institutionalised racism, Mandela was an international symbol of reconciliation and human rights.
A trained lawyer who rose to prominence as a leader of the African National Congress’s fight against the Afrikaaner regime, Mandela was imprisoned in 1962 for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.
He served 27 years, mostly in the isolated Robben Island prison for political inmates.
An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990.
He was South Africa’s president from 1994-99.
Mandela was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and is held in deep respect within South Africa as the “Father of the Nation”.
He continued to work through his Nelson Mandela Foundation combating HIV/AIDS, amid failing health.
Over the last few years, Mandela had been hospitalised several times for a recurring lung infection.
May His Soul Rest In Peace!
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