Nelson Mandela died peacefully at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, South African President Jacob Zuma said.
"Fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rohlihla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed," Zuma said in a nationally televised address.
"Our people have lost a father. Although we knew this day was going to come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss. His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world. His humility, passion and humanity, earned him their love," he added.
Mandela will receive a full state funeral. In mourning, national flags will be flown at half mast.
Mandela rose from rural obscurity to challenge the might of white minority Apartheid government - a struggle that gave the 20th century one of its most respected and loved figures.
He was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid in 1960, but was quick to preach reconciliation and forgiveness when the country's white minority began easing its grip on power 30 years later.
Charged with capital offences in the infamous 1963 Rivonia Trial after the hideout of African National Congress had been compromised, his statement from the dock was his political testimony. Turned out in traditional African attire, he delivered his powerful, moving speech to a visibly spell-bound crowd.
Despite the justness of his cause that was supported by people worldwide, he remained for 27 years at the prison in Robben Island along with several of his anti-Apartheid movement companions. Generations of protestors rose and fell holding his example close to their bosoms during the long, dark and abusive years on the prison island.
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination", were the magisterial words spoken by Madiba that propelled the country through its darkest Apartheid hour.
Mandela was finally released from prison in 1990 and negotiated with Frederik Willem de Klerk over the political future of the African nation. When free and fair elections were held in 1994, he became president with an overhwelming majority support. He was to retire in 1999, although he continued to be an active part of South African public and moral life. In consideration of their efforts to bring peace to a country that was for over 40 years plagued by racial discrimination, Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1993.
Mandela headed the government at a time of difficulty, when the country was emerging from the shadow of apartheid and the ANC had the heady task of transforming itself from a long-time revolutionary party to a government in power. The hallmark of Mandela's mission was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which probed apartheid crimes on both sides of the struggle and tried to heal the country's wounds. It also provided a model for other countries torn by civil strife.
After retirement from public office, he shifted his energies to battling South Africa's AIDS crisis and the struggle became personal when he lost his only surviving son to the disease in 2005.
Mandela's last major appearance on the global stage came in 2010 when he attended the championship match of the soccer World Cup, where he received a thunderous ovation from the 90,000 at the stadium in Soweto, the neighbourhood in which he cut his teeth as a resistance leader.
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