Nelson Mandela: A remarkable man, an incredible life

Nelson Mandela: The official memorial service for one of Africa's greatest sons will be held on December 10 in Johannesburg, and he will be laid to rest at his ancestral home in Qunu on December 15

South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, has died, after suffering for about six months.

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.


Announcing Mandela’s death, South Africa’s President Jacob Gidieli Zuma called on South Africans to “recall the values for which Madiba fought”.

In a statement on South African national TV, Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela had “departed” and was at peace.

The anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate was a beloved figure around the world, a symbol of reconciliation from a country with a brutal history of racism

Long illness

Mandela was hospitalised on June 8 with a recurring lung infection. Initial reports from the Presidency suggested Mandela was stable, although his condition was serious. But on June 23, the Presidency announced that Mandela’s condition had deteriorated and he was critical.

Court affidavits soon confirmed that the former statesman was on an assisted-breathing, life support machine.

More reports emerged about Nelson Mandela in the days that followed, that he was in a “permanent vegetative state”, although the presidency denied these, maintaining that he was “critical yet stable”.

On his 95th birthday, July 18, President Jacob Zuma announced an improvement in Mandela’s health. Mandela was discharged from hospital in September and transported to his home in Houghton.

In November, his family said he remained “quite ill”, but his pneumonia had cleared up.