When announcing that the former President Nelson Mandela passed away on Thursday evening, President Jacob Zuma said:
“Our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding President of our democratic nation has departed,” said the President in a live address to the nation on Thursday evening.
Zuma said that Madiba, affectionately known as the “father of a nation” was now resting and at peace.
Madiba passed away peacefully in the company of his family at 8.50pm on Thursday. – SAnews.gov.za
President Jacob Zuma says this is a moment of deepest sorrow for South Africa as the nation has lost its greatest son.
Announcing that former President Nelson Mandela had passed away, in a live televised address to the nation, Zuma said: “Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.”
Madiba passed away peacefully in the company of his family at 8.50pm on Thursday evening.
Zuma said the nation’s thoughts were with Madiba’s wife Graca Machel, his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his children, his grandchildren, his great grand-children and the entire family as well as his friends, comrades and colleagues.
“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,” said the President.
He said that Madiba had brought us together, and it is together that we will bid him farewell.
“Let us express, each in our own way, the deep gratitude we feel for a life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of humanity. This is indeed the moment of our deepest sorrow. Yet it must also be the moment of our greatest determination,” said Zuma.
The President urged South Africans to conduct themselves with dignity and respect as they paid their last respects to the father of the nation.
“Let us be mindful of his wishes and the wishes of his family. As we gather, wherever we are in the country and wherever we are in the world, let us recall the values for which Madiba fought.”
Madiba will receive a State Funeral and all flags in the country will fly at half-mast tomorrow and remain so until after the funeral.
Outpouring of emotion:
South Africa has seen an outpouring of emotion as news that former President Nelson Mandela had passed away spread.
Madiba, the father of the nation, passed away at 8.50pm at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg on Thursday.
As President Jacob Zuma made the announcement during a live televised address, the nation stood still in silence.
Special broadcasts have been airing on radio and television and news websites have begun paying tribute to Madiba.
Condolences have begun to pour in from all corners of the world, especially on social media networks.
Hundreds gathered outside Mandela’s home:
Hundreds of South Africans gathered at Nelson Mandela’s home in Houghton, Johannesburg, to pay their respects to the former President.
The mood was sombre but also celebratory as the crowds sang freedom songs and the national anthem.
Others, many of whom in their pyjamas, laid down flowers near the property while others lit candles and clutched pictures of the struggle icon.
There was a high police presence and roads leading to the home were blocked off.
Meanwhile, tributes are pouring in from all corners of the world.
United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron said Madiba was a towering figure in our time, a legend in life and now in death – a true global hero.
“Across the country he loved, they will be mourning a man who was the embodiment of grace. Meeting him was one of the great honours of my life.”
Former US president Bill Clinton tweeted a picture of himself holding hands with Mandela, saying: “I will never forget my friend Madiba.”
President of FIFA, world football’s governing body, Joseph Sepp Blatter also took to the social network, saying: “My respects to an extraordinary person, probably one of the greatest humanists of our time.”
Zuma said flags around the country would be flown at half-mast from Friday until the funeral.
Alan Straton
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