Former South African president, Nelson Mandela has died after suffering from a recurring lung infection.
Aged 95, the death of Mandela was announced by South African President, Jacob Zuma.
Mandela led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison.
He had been receiving intense home-based medical care after three months in hospital.
In a statement on South African national TV, President Zuma said Mr Mandela had “departed” and was at peace, adding that “Our nation has lost its greatest son,”.
Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994-1999.
He was the first black South African to hold the office. His birthday, June 18th is celebrated as a national holiday in South Africa.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world’s most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.
He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004.
“What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves,” Mr Zuma said.
“Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell.”
Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, as a law student.
He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid (white-only rule).
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, but was released in 1990 as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office.
After leaving office, he became South Africa’s highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country’s right to host the 2010 football World Cup.
He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.
Mandella is a HERO! May his soul rest in peace...
