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Nelson Mandela, born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, was a South
African politician. He died on December 6, 2013 at the age of 95.
Friends and family are mourning the loss of a loved one.
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Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died, President Jacob
Zuma announces
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Former US President George HW Bush on Mandela: 'He was a man of
tremendous moral courage, who changed the course of history in his country.
Barbara and I had great respect for President Mandela, and send our condolences
to his family and countrymen'
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South African President Jacob Zuma on Nelson Mandela's death: 'Let us
reaffirm his vision of a society in which none is exploited'
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South African President Jacob Zuma on Nelson Mandela's death: 'His
tireless struggle for freedom has earned him the respect of the world'
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New York City Mayor Bloomberg: 'Today, we lost one of the most
transformative and influential figures in modern history'
South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died, South Africa's president says.
Mr Mandela, 95, 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 for a lung infection after three
months in hospital.
In a statement on
South African national TV, Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela had "departed" and
was at peace.
"Our nation
has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.
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."
UK Prime Minister
David Cameron paid tribute to Mr Mandela, saying "a great light has gone
out in the world".
Earlier, the BBC's
Mike Wooldridge, outside Mr Mandela's home in the Johannesburg suburb of
Houghton, said there appeared to have been an unusually large family gathering.
Among those
attending was family elder Bantu Holomisa, A number of
government vehicles were there during the evening as well, our correspondent
says. Since he was
released from hospital, the South African presidency repeatedly described Mr
Mandela's condition as critical but stable.
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
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