Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest
leaders of modern times, passed away Thursday at his home in Johannesburg after a prolonged lung
infection. He was 95 years old.
South African President Jacob Zuma
announced that Mandela, "the founding president of our democratic nation,
has departed," adding that he "passed on peacefully."
"Our nation has lost its
greatest son. Our people have lost a father," Zuma said.
"Our
thoughts are with the millions of people who embraced Mandela as their own and
who saw his cause as their cause.… This is the moment of our deepest sorrow.”
Mandela, shown
in 2010, married Winnie Madikileza in 1958. (Alexander Joe/Reuters)
Mandela will be accorded a state
funeral, Zuma said, and national flags will be lowered to half-mast."We saw in him what we seek in ourselves. And in him we saw so much of ourselves," he said. "Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell."
Mandela's respiratory problems in recent years may be connected to his imprisonment, when he contracted tuberculosis after working in a prison quarry. He had been in hospital in recent months.
His hospitalization on June 8, 2013, marked his fifth visit to hospital in two years. In April 2013, he spent 10 days in hospital after being treated for pneumonia.
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