Former South African President Nelson Mandela dies

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95 after a prolonged illness.

The lion of South Africa sleeps forever tonight.

Nelson Mandela, who led the fight against apartheid and then pushed for reconciliation as his country’s first black president, died after a prolonged illness Thursday. He was 95.

“He passed on peacefully in the comfort of his family,” South African President Jacob Zuma said in an address to the world just before midnight Thursday in the African nation. “We’ve lost our greatest son.”

 As word of the death of the man South Africans called Madiba spread across the heartbroken country, hundreds of weeping mourners converged on Mandela’s home in Johannesburg, chanting, “Viva Mandela, viva!”

Fittingly, blacks and whites mourned Mandela together.

“If it wasn’t for Mandela, I wouldn’t be chilling with my black friends,” said 19-year-old Dominic Sadie, who is white and was part of the giant crowd of people holding candles and paying their respects. “I love him.”

Mandela died at 8:50 p.m. local time, but Zuma didn’t make his sad announcement until a little before midnight.

Weeping South Africans raced out into streets in their pajamas, including one black mom who rushed over to Mandela’s house with her two daughters.

“I am glad that he is in a better place, but I hope South Africans will be able to deal with his death,” she said through her tears.

Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s last president during the era of state-sanctioned racial segregation.

“I liked him and I immediately felt that this is truly a man of greatness,” de Klerk recalled. “I think Nelson Mandela’s legacy is don’t be bitter about the past, take the hands also of your former enemies.”

In Washington, President Obama said Mandela “no longer belongs to us, he belongs to the ages.”

“I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Mandela’s life,” Obama said at the White House. “So long as I live, I will do what I can to learn from him.”

Obama ordered that flags be flown at half-staff until sunset Monday and prepared to fly out to South Africa for a state funeral.

Prateek Pathak 
Alumni Student
B.A in Media Studies
University of Allahabad