Post date: Dec 17, 2013 2:12:5 PM
South Africa unites in mourning and world leaders pay tribute as the death of anti-apartheid heroNelson Mandela is announced.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (DECEMBER 5, 2013) (SABC) - South Africans united in mourning for Nelson Mandela after President Jacob Zuma announced on December 5 that the country's first black president had died peacefully at his Johannesburg home in the company of his family after a long illness.
As the news broke, hundreds flocked to Mandela's home in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, some singing into the night.Meanwhile, in London, a movie based on Mandela's 1994 autobiography had its royal premiere inLondon, attended by two of Mandela's daughters and Britain's Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge.
The daughters were told of their father's death just before the film started. They immediately left the cinema, but requested the premiere go on. The prince and duchess were only told of his death just before the end of the movie.
A somber Prince William told reporters afterwards that Mandela's death was "extremely sad and tragic ... We were just reminded of what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was".
Tributes began to pour in from around the world, with U.S. President Barack Obama praising the man he called "one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth," and U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, calling him a "giant for justice and a down to earth human inspiration".
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyialso expressed their sadness at Mandela's passing.
Despite reassurances from public figures that Mandela's death at 95, while sorrowful, would not haltSouth Africa's advance from its apartheid past, there were those who expressed unease about the absence of a man famed as a peacemaker.
Flags flew at half mast across the country, and trade was halted for five minutes on theJohannesburg stock exchange.
But the mood was not all sombre. Hundreds filled the streets around Mandela's former home in Soweto, many singing songs of tribute and dancing.
Former South African President F.W. de Klerk said Mandela's greatest accomplishment was to unifySouth Africa and push for reconciliation between blacks and whites in the post-apartheid era.
He said he had one overriding memory of Mandela.
"I remember with great warmth the moment when he spontaneously, when after his inauguration, he and I and Thabo Mbeki went to the terrace of the Union Buildings, grabbed my hand, grabbedThabo Mbeki's hand, and it's a famous photo now, and held the hands in the air, sending the message that, notwithstanding previous divisions, together we will build the new South Africa," said de Klerk.
De Klerk, who released Mandela from prison in 1990 and then negotiated the end of apartheid, served as one of two deputy presidents in Mandela's government after the African National Congress won the 1994 elections.
Another veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu, said that like all South Africans he was "devastated" by Mandela's death.
But the mourning was also felt around the world, with flags flying at half mast at the U.N. building inGeneva and the European Commission in Brussels, and people lining up for hours to sign books of condolence in London.
The New York Stock Exchange observed a minute's silence in Mandela's honour, as did the England cricket team, playing in Australia.
Mandela's death at the age of 95 brought an outpouring of grief and mourning in the country he led as president from 1994 to 1999, as well as celebration and thanksgiving for his life and achievements.
Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the world.
Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, Mandela emerged determined to use his prestige and charisma to bring down apartheid while avoiding a civil war.
He formally left public life in June 2004 before his 86th birthday, telling his adoring countrymen: "Don't call me. I'll call you". But he remained one of the world's most revered public figures, combining celebrity sparkle with an unwavering message of freedom, respect and human rights.
Such was his influence as the architect of the historic reconciliation between blacks and whites that his passing has left a gaping hole at the heart of South Africa's psyche.