Nelson Mandela death: South Africa and world mourn

Mr Mandela went on to become one of the world’s most respected statesmen.

A service of national mourning is expected to be held at a 95,000-seater stadium on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Monday. His body will then lie in state for three days in the capital, Pretoria, before being taken for a state funeral in the village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, where he grew up,according to BBC.

“God was so good to us in South Africa by giving us Nelson Mandela to be our president at a crucial moment in our history,” said long-time ally Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

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At a service in Cape Town on Friday, he said Mr Mandela had “taught a divided nation to come together”.

Mr Mandela had been suffering from a lung illness for a long time.

He had been receiving treatment at home since September, when he was discharged from hospital.

As soon as the news broke, small crowds began to gather in Soweto’s Vilakazi Street, where Mr Mandela lived in the 1940s and 1950s.

They chanted apartheid-era songs, including one with the lyrics: “We have not seen Mandela in the place where he is, in the place where he is kept.”

By daybreak, dozens more had gathered.

“We are celebrating his life and all that he did for us,” said one of the mourners, Terry Mokoena.

Crowds also gathered outside Mr Mandela’s current home, in Johannesburg’s northern suburb of Houghton, where he died.

Across the world, leaders, celebrities and members of the public have been paying tribute.

Queen Elizabeth II said she was “deeply saddened” to learn of Mr Mandela’s death.

“He worked tirelessly for the good of his country, and his legacy is the peaceful South Africa we see today,” a statement issued by Buckingham Palace said.

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South Africans are mourning Nelson Mandela through songs of struggle and church hymns. One of the songs is “Nelson Mandela ha hona ea tshwanang le yena” which in Sotho means there is no-one like Nelson Mandela. This song and many others like it encapsulate the deep sense of loss here and the realisation that his passing marks the end of an era.

Even South Africans who had never met him had made a special place for him in their hearts. They will remember him as the father of the nation, who brought an end to apartheid and delivered the nation from the brink of civil war.

Children carrying posters slowly march up and down Vilakazi street, where Mr Mandela’s Soweto home is. Others are standing outside his old house, now turned into a museum.

There is an air of heaviness here – none of the loud hooting of minibus taxis that usually make up the energy of this busy street, no cars speeding down blaring loud music. Instead those not part of the mournful singing speak in hushed tones. Elderly women with walking sticks are part of the group that has come to send off the nation’s icon.

“He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home,” said US President Barack Obama.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called him “a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration”.

Flags are flying at half-mast on government buildings in Washington DC, Paris and across South Africa. The European Union and world football body Fifa have also ordered their flags to be lowered.

The parliament in Pretoria is expected to hold a special joint session to reflect on Mr Mandela’s life and legacy.

Books of condolence have been opened at public buildings in South Africa and at the country’s embassies throughout the world.

Next Monday is expected to be the start of South Africa’s official mourning, with a service in Soweto’s FNB stadium.

Mr Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days at the Union buildings in Pretoria. His funeral is likely to be held on Saturday in Qunu, the village in Eastern Cape where he was born.

The BBC’s Mike Wooldridge in Johannesburg says South Africa will never have seen a state funeral like it, with leaders, dignitaries and other admirers of the former president expected from all over the world.

It will be a huge logistical challenge, especially given the remoteness of Qunu, our correspondent adds.

“Our nation has lost its greatest son,” Mr Zuma said.

“Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.”

Mr Mandela won admiration around the world when he preached reconciliation after being freed from almost three decades of imprisonment.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with FW de Klerk, South Africa’s last white president.

M.D