South Africa's First Black President Nelson Mandela (MADIBA) Dies At age 95

Nelson Mandela

South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died, South Africa's president says.

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.

1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
1943 Joined African National Congress
1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped after a four-year trial
1962 Arrested, convicted of incitement and leaving country without a passport, sentenced to five years in prison
                                                                                       1964 Charged with sabotage, sentenced to life
                                                                                       1990 Freed from prison
                                                                                       1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
                                                                                       1994 Elected first black president
                                                                                       1999 Steps down as leader
                                                                                       2001 Diagnosed with prostate cancer
                                                                                       2004 Retires from public life
                                                                                       2005 Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

"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."

 'LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM'

He was born Rolihlahla Mandela in Mvezo, a village on the Mbashe River in the Transkei region, on the eastern cape of South Africa, in 1918. He lived his earliest years in Qunu, a village so small there were no roads, only footpaths, and families lived in huts. He was a member of the Xhosa-speaking Thembu tribe.

He was baptized in the United Methodist Church and given the name Nelson by a teacher.

His father, a counselor to the tribal chief, died when Mandela was 9. He was adopted by the chief and lived in the more sophisticated provincial capital, where he attended a Wesleyan mission school, learning English and excelling in track and boxing. He studied law at University of Fort Hare and University of Witwatersrand after fleeing to Johannesburg to avoid a marriage arranged by the tribal regent.

 There he became involved in the anti-apartheid movement and in 1943 joined the African National Congress, where he became a leader in resistance against the ruling National Party and its apartheid policies.

Nelson Mandela Died At Age 95