Former president of South Africa
Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 Thursday night
He achieved more than could be expected for any man and today he's gone home
The former South African president had been suffering from a recurring lung infection, and the Daily Telegraph reports that his friends and family had gathered at his bed today. Zuma announced his death in a televised address to the nation, telling mourners that Mandela, often affectionately referred to by his Xhosa clan name "Madiba," had passed away at 8:50 p.m. local time
"Our nation has lost its greatest son, yet what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human," Zuma said. "We saw in him what we seek in ourselves, and in him we saw so much of ourselves."
Mandela's struggle was one of the defining stories of the 20th century. Trained as a lawyer, he became involved in politics after 1948 as South Africa moved into a system of racial apartheid. While initially espousing non-violent protests with the African National Congress (ANC), he eventually founded a militant organization and was behind a bombing campaign in the early 1960s. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in 1962.
Mandela had been sick for a long time. Earlier this year, South Africa's Sunday Times ran a story on Mandela's illness under the headline "It's time to let him go"
RIP SIR NELSON MANDELA
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