Nelson Mandela dies: reaction and developments - live
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Full story: Nelson Mandela
dies aged 95
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17.39 Hillary Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, remembered Nelson Mandela as "a giant among us" who was an example to the world as to how to respond to injustice and tragedy. Speaking in Washington, she said Mandela showed others how to live a life of integrity.
17.26 Watch Desmond Tutu address the nation on the death of Mandela,
asking: "What is going to happen to us now our father has died?"
17.23 Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to BBC Radio
about his experience of attending Mandela's presidential inauguration in
1994, as well as Washington's decision to place him on its terror list
during the days of ANC violence.
Listen to the interview here:
17.15 Watch the Queen's tribute to Nelson Mandela:
17.00 Barack Obama will travel to South Africa next week to attend the memorial events for Nelson Mandela, the White House has announced.
"President Obama and the first lady will go to South Africa next week to pay their respects to the memory of Nelson Mandela and to participate in memorial events. We'll have further updates on timing and logistics as they become available," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
16.50 Our Southern Africa correspondent Aislinn Laing reports from outside Mandela's house in Houghton, where crowds have been gathering to pay tribute.
16.25 The second one-day international between South Africa and India will go ahead in Durban on Sunday, and will be marked by a tribute to Mandela, Cricket South Africa have confirmed.
16.15 Peter Oborne, The Telegraph's chief political commentator, says that Nelson Mandela can be compared to Jesus.
There are very few human beings who can be compared to Jesus Christ. Nelson
Mandela is one. This is because he was a spiritual leader as much as a
statesman. His colossal moral strength enabled him to embark on new and
unimaginable forms of action. He could lead through the strength of example
alone.
Most politicians, including those in democratic countries like Britain, inspire their followers by appealing to their basest instincts. Mandela appealed to the noblest and most splendid part of our fallen nature. Only one other 20th-century leader can be spoken of like this — Mahatma Gandhi. Mandela and Ghandi made us all better people, and our world a much better place.
It is also important to remember that, even though Mandela was a South African and Gandhi Indian, they did belong to all of us. This is because they both taught a universal message. They refused to represent simply a clan, a sect, a tribe, a class, a race or even a single religion.
They embraced humanity, rather than excluded it. They sought moral rather than physical power. Gandhi was an Indian nationalist, but his India was really an idea or a vision of humanity as much as of a country.
Mandela was a South African, but he embraced all facets of his magnificent country.
16.11 Francois Pienaar, the Springboks Rugby World Cup-winning captain, has spoken to Mick Cleary, The Telegraph's Rugby Correspondent, paying Mandela, who became his children's godfather, an emotional tribute.
I never imagined that I would be so emotional... You think you will be
prepared but it turns out you are not. I turned off the phone and switched
on my TV and just watched and watched these tributes pouring in from all
over the globe. Of course, we knew this day was coming. But it does not make
it any easier to take.
Francois Pienaar accepts the William Webb Ellis trophy from Nelson
Mandela in 1995
15.40 The Norwegian Nobel committee has also paid tributed to the Nobel Laureate. Mandela won the prize in 1993 together with South Africa's then-president FW de Klerk.
His work presents a message also today to all those who bear responsibility
for apparently unresolvable conflicts.
Even the most bitter of conflicts can be solved by peaceful means.
Nelson Mandela and President F.W. de Klerk address a crowd in front of
the Union Building in Johannesburg
15.37 The Telegraph has compiled the best video tributes to Mandela, and you can submit your own here.
14.45 Mandla Mandela has said the messages received by the family since the death of his grandfather had "overwhelmed"them.
All that I can do is thank God that I had a grandfather who loved and
guided all of us in the family.
"The best lesson that he taught all of us was the need for us to be prepared to be of service to our people."
"We in the family recognise that Madiba belongs not only to us but to the entire world. The messages we have received since last night have heartened and overwhelmed us."
14.32 Watch UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's statement on Mandela, who he describes as a "giant for justice".
Ban Ki-Moon: Nelson Mandela was a 'giant for justice'
14.20 Former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, who led the South African team to their Rugby World Cup victory in 1995, has released a statement on the death of then president Mandela:
“Nelson Mandela was the most extraordinary and incredible human being, not
only because he united his country when such a task seemed impossible but
also because, through his unique humanity, he inspired hundreds of millions
of people across the globe.
“It was my great fortune and privilege to receive the Webb Ellis Cup from Madiba at the conclusion of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, creating what has become an iconic image of national success, unity and reconciliation that resonates with all South Africans.
“I will always be profoundly grateful for the personal role Nelson Mandela has played in my life, as my President and my example.”
14.15 London Mayor Boris Johnson has told Telegraph TV outside the South African High Commission in the city that Nelson Mandela is a "secular saint".
14.12 Mick Cleary, the Telegraph's rugby correspondent, looks at the tributes to Nelson Mandela from the Springboks, whose shirt he wore when he attended the 1995 World Cup final in the country, a gesture that reverberated through South Africa and the world.
Morne du Plessis, (Springbok manager and former team captain in the apartheid era), dismisses the nation that Mandela's decision to wear the Springbok jersey was carefully calculated.
"I don't think it was and I don't think it would have had the same resonance if it had been," said du Plessis. "It was not a methodical plan to use the World Cup as a tool to win over Afrikaans support. It was simply his feeling at the time. It was him believing that this is what needed to be done and it was him who was going to do it. It was just want the country needed and still needs. It was the day we believed anything was possible."
13.42 New York correspondent Philip Sherwell reports on reactions to the news of Mandela's death in the city:
In New York’s Harlem neighbourhood, the world famous marquee of the Apollo Theatre proclaimed: "In Memory of Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013. He changed our world."
The marquee bore a very different message in 1990 when Mr Mandela was mobbed by huge crowds during his visit to the historic heart of black New York with his wife following his release from prison.
“Welcome Home Mr & Mrs Mandela. We love you, we love you, we love you”, it read.
Passers-by on 125th St expressed their sadness, but also celebrated the life of a great man. "He leaves a legacy that I think is beautiful, extraordinary, he is the one that epitomises what it means to be a great human being," said one man.
In Brooklyn, crowds gathered at Madiba, a popular South African restaurant named after him. Paintings and photographs hang on the walls and news of his death was played over the television to stunned diners.
The mood turned from shock and sorrow to celebration as people recalled what he embodied for them. "He represents hope for humanity in terms of the global human family," one diner told New York One.
"Mandela is that person that represented hope for us as humanity, the differences that we have. He's the person that made it possible to see that we can all come together and live together and be together, despite all our differences, despite all the idiosyncrasies that we have."
13.34 Mandela is to lie in state in Pretoria from December 11 to 13, followed by a state funeral in Qunu on December 15, President Jacob Zuma has announced.
13.28 John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has urged Israel and the Palestinians to follow Mandela's lead and make peace. Speaking in Tel Aviv at the end of a two-day visit intended to encourage the two sides in stuttering peace talks, Mr Kerry quoted Mandela as having said: "It always seems impossible until it is done."
"That example of Nelson Mandela is an example we all need to take to heart as we try to reach a two-state solution," he said.
Both Israel and the Palestinians have paid tribute to Mandela, the latter describing him as an inspiration for their struggle for statehood.
13.17 We have put together some of the key moments of Mandela's life, stretching back to 1960 and the Sharpeville massacre as told by Daily Telegraph front pages. For history and indeed newspaper afficionados, it's a fascinating insight.
12.57 Hundreds of people have queued up outside the South African High Commission in London in order to sign a book of condolence.
Among them was South African expat Vega Hall-Martin, who has lived in London for ten years.
I am South African and I do see him as the father of my nation. He represents
so much to me, respect, dignity, forgiveness.
When I think what South Africa could have been, if it wasn't for him there would have been civil war.
I am very passionate about my country and he is in my people's heart...
I hope the country can embody what he stood for going forward and not lose his message in corruption and greed.
There is a danger of that but I think he is strong enough and his legacy is powerful enough to avoid it.
I came here because it is somewhere I can feel close to South Africa.
Another, Jonathan Brown, 68, also came to pay his respects.
We followed his life closely. He is one of the most amazing human beings
who's ever lived. He is an inspiration to the world.
12.45 Desmond Tutu, one of Nelson Mandela's oldest friends, has called on South Africans to continue to work for ever closer unity in the wake of his death:
“Because of him we amazed the world, a world that thought we would live in
eternal devastation caused by apartheid.
"The sun will rise tomorrow. It will not be as bright as yesterday. But life will carry on.
"God is asking South Africans, please become what you are, show the world we are members of one family. We belong together."
12.27 From my colleague Gordon Rayner - The Duke of York has recalled meeting Mandela during a State visit to the UK in 2000 and again on a visit to South Africa in 2002. Visiting a college in Reading, Prince Andrew said:
"I met him a couple of times, quite the most remarkable man I
remember. I have not met a man with more compassion and less bitterness. I
count it one of life's true privileges to have had the opportunity to have a
conversation with him, just remarkable. It's really sad but age shall not
weary them nor the years condemn.
"Just being beside him during the State visit when he came here and I just remember his height, he was a boxer and we were in the Albert Hall, he was talking to me about boxing. And then meeting him in South Africa was the other one."
12.10 The front page of the Daily Telegraph on Saturday October 16 1993,
the day after Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Daily Telegraph, Oct 16 1993
12.05 Pope Francis has paid tribute to Nelson Mandela's struggle in South Africa, praising his commitment to human dignity, non-violence and reconciliation. He sent a telegram to South African President Jacob Zuma praising the "steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela in promoting the human dignity of all the nation's citizens and in forging a new South Africa".
I pray that the late president's example will inspire generations of South
Africans to put justice and the common good at the forefront of their
political aspirations
It was with sadness that I learned of the death... and I send prayerful condolences to all the Mandela family, to the members of the government and to all the people of South Africa.
I ask the Lord to console and strengthen all who mourn his loss.
11.23 "Just feeling sad and praying has not much meaning," said the Dalai Lama today in response to the news. "Now we must develop determination to carry his spirit, that is the really important thing."
10.59 Southern Africa correspondent Aislinn Laing is outside the house in Houghton, Johannesburg where Mandela died late last night and where huge crowds have gathered to pay tribute.
<noframe>Twitter: Aislinn Laing - Mandela would be thrilled to see what's happening outside his house right now - hundreds of South Africans of every age, race and religion.</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Aislinn Laing - Julian Moses brought his 3 daughters to lay flowers. "I'm really holding back the tears.I was a young man when he walked free from prison."</noframe>
10.56 The Union flag on the Foreign Office in London is flying at half
mast.
(Image: Foreign Office Twitter account)
10.49 All normal programming and advertising has been scrapped at South Africa's national broadcaster to make way for tributes to Mandela, according to City Press, a Sunday newspaper in the country.
The broadcaster's three TV channels will reportedly be showing the same coverage. South African cinema chains have also announced they will not screen the new Mandela biopic today out of respect.
It was confirmed earlier this morning that Mandela's daughters Zenani and Zindzi, along with his ex-wife Winnie, were at the screening and were given the news as they sat watching the film.
"They received the news of their father’s passing during the screening and immediately left the cinema," a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
10.35 Floral tributes placed by the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament
Square, central London.
(PA)
10.29 A street in Paris - from my colleague Henry Samuel: Anne Hidalgo, Paris' deputy mayor promises to create a Nelson Mandela street as soon as possible in the French capital and before the normal five-year waiting period after the death of a famous figure.
François Hollande, the French president, also paid tribute to Mandela today.
Nelson Mandela made history – in South Africa’s and the whole world. In his
tireless fight against apartheid he struck it down through courage,
stubbornness and persistence.
Mandela's message will not disappear. It will continue to inspire those fighting for freedom and to give confidence to people defending just causes and universal rights.
He showed that the human will could not only break the bonds of servitude but free up energy to succeed in building a common destiny.
10.23 Rivonia trial speech - in 1964, Nelson Mandela and others were charged with treason over acts of sabotage and violence on behalf of 'Spear of the Nation', the military wing of the ANC that Mandela helped found. From the dock, he proclaimed his willingness to die for his cause.
During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African
people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against
black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see
realised. But, My Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am
prepared to die.
Read the full speech here.
09.55 Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, has tweeted his tribute to Mandela.
<noframe>Twitter: Hassan Rouhani - With a heavy heart, we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela. Surely, his legacy will remain a source of <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23inspiration" target="_blank">#inspiration</a> and courage for all people.</noframe>
09.54 A man reads the Soweto Star, a local newspaper in the town Mandela
lived in between 1946 and 1962.
(ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
09.43 Condolences in Britain - Westminster Abbey will hold a national service of thanksgiving for Mandela after the state funeral for him in South Africa, and a book of condolence will be opened at St Margaret's Church at the Abbey from 9.30am today.
09.33 'He taught us forgiveness on a grand scale' - Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend and civil rights campaigner, has paid tribute to Mandela in a statement issued from the Ali Center in Louisville.
He made us realise, we are our brother's keeper and that our brothers come in
all colours. What I will remember most about Mandela is that he was a man
whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial
and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge. He
taught us forgiveness on a grand scale.
09.24 A day of mourning has been declared by the Palestinian Authority. My colleague Robert Tait is in the West Bank.
In the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president
declared a day of mourning and ordered all Palestinian flags to be flown at
half mast. Mandela was a brave man who supported the Palestinian people, the
PA's Wafa News Agency reported Abbas as saying.
09.13 From the City desk - The Johannesburg Stock exchange paused trading for five minutes to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela. The pause started at 11am (9am London).
09.09 In the first comment from Nelson Mandela's family since his passing, his grandson has expressed gratitude for the global outpouring of support, saying his family had been "overwhelmed" by the response.
"The messages we have received since last night have heartened and overwhelmed us," said Mandla Mandela.
08.59 Reader tributes - here are a selection of tributes to Mandela already sent in by Telegraph readers. We'll be publishing more, and in full, soon.
My wife and I had our first date on an anti-apartheid picket in Trafalgar Square. He was not perfect and South Africa is not perfect, but he was a moral compass that still inspires - Charlie Beckett, London
I went to see him in Hyde Park for his 90th birthday. I queued for six hours with my daughter. It's things like this that I will look back at when my life is ending - Somie Takhar
How can anyone write a tribute for one so great? A prisoner who became the president of the South Africa and the captivator of the world’s heart. He continued to remind us that we are not born to hate – love is an instinctive feeling which we enjoy ... Rolihlahla Mandela your long walk to freedom is now over. You were a messenger to the world - a present day saint. Today you have united the world as one – under your unique banner of love - you will live on - Jinty Joy Orange, Abu Dhabi
The last statesmanlike politician - Roger Jones
Nowadays we've slipped into the easy option of the meaningless phrase: One of the greatest. Nelson was the greatest statesman of the 20th century. No one believed more sincerely, no one sacrificed more and no one was so magnanimous in triumph - James Blears, Mexico City
08.45 US president Barack Obama is likely to fly to Johannesburg either tonight or tomorrow, along with a number of other world leaders. Firm plans have not yet been announced by The White House or Downing Street.
08.36 Today's New York Times front page carries a single piece about
Mandela amidst its other news, written by former executive editor Bill
Keller. It uses the same picture that adorns the
front of today's Daily Telegraph.
08.29 What happens next - South Africa's farewell to Nelson Mandela will be a huge national event. Here are some of the main elements of the country's plan for the next few days.
Condolence books will be opened at all South Africa’s foreign embassies as well as at his former home in Soweto, which is now a popular museum. A special sitting of parliament may also be held in Cape Town, South Africa’s legislative capital.
A ceremony of remembrance will be to be held, most likely in the Soweto football stadium that previously hosted the soccer World Cup, known by locals as the Calabash after its resemblance to a traditional beer-drinking pot.
Mandela’s body will spend some time lying in state, either in Pretoria’s City Hall or the Union Buildings. One day will be set aside for the VIPs expected to fly in and afterwards the doors will be opened to ordinary citizens.
Mandela’s body will be flown to Qunu, the tiny village 900 kilometres south in the rural Eastern Cape, where Mandela grew up, with his coffin likely to be met by President Zuma and a full military contingent to accompany it on a 30-kilometre procession to its final resting place at his home.
08.07 Following on from the Prime Minister's statement, George Osborne has paid tribute to Mandela on Radio 4.
It is not just his incredible stand for freedom and the endurance of being in
prison for so many years, but then turning around and reconciling himself
with the people who kept him captive.
And not only did he as a result avoid a very bloody civil war in South Africa but I think he stands for something much bigger than that which is that there can be hope and reconciliation and I think that’s the most extraordinary thing about Nelson Mandela.
The Prime Minister said earlier that MPs would be given the opportunity to pay their own tributes to Mandela in the House of Commons on Monday.
08.04 "He chose reconciliation over revenge and retribution" - human rights campaigner Jesse Jackson spoke to the Telegraph about the legacy of the Nelson Mandela.
07.49 Zelda La Grange, Mandela's former private secretary, has made a moving tribute to the man she spent many years working with and who called her his 'honourary granddaughter'. Here it is in full:
My sincere condolences to Mrs Graça Machel (Mum), Maki, Zeni, Zindzi, Josina,
Malenga and the entire Mandela family as well as everyone who feels a sense
of loss this morning.
Nelson Mandela inspired people to forgive, to reconcile, to care, to be selfless, to be tolerant, to maintain dignity no matter what the circumstances. I can attest to each of these because these are the ways in which he changed my life over the past 19 years. I am blessed and honoured by the privilege to have had the opportunity to serve him.
I often battled with the relentless pressure. But then I looked to him who carried himself with such grace and energy. I never left, I never could. Nelson Mandela did not demand loyalty, but he inspired profound and unwavering loyalty from everybody whose life he touched.
And now, as we grieve the departure of Madiba I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I will never see him again. But heroes never die. As sad as it makes me that I will never walk into a room again and see his generous infectious smile or hear him say "Oh Zeldina, you are here" I have come to terms with the fact that Madiba's legacy is not dependent on his presence.
His legacy will not only live on in everything that has been named after him, the books, the images, the movies. It will live on in how we feel when we hear his name, the respect and love, the unity he inspired in us as a country but particularly how we relate to one-another.
Madiba will forever be present in my life because he made me into the human being I am today. I will cherish every smile, the pleasant but also the difficult times and especially my barefoot moments. Thank you for all the wonderful opportunities you afforded me, but most of all thank you for believing in me Khulu, making me a better person, a better South African.
Tot weersiens Khulu!! Will love you every day for the rest of my life.
07.34 Celebrations have been taking place outside Mandela's home in Johannesburg, where he died, throughout the night.
07.28 From my colleague David Blair, an account of the life and times of Nelson Mandela, including the story of how a boy from a South African township came to be called Nelson.
Mandela was one of Henry’s 12 children, born to Nosekeni, the third of four
wives. He was christened Rolihlahla (meaning “troublemaker”) and enjoyed a
traditional African childhood, herding cattle, learning stick fighting with
other boys and undergoing a circumcision ceremony.
When Mandela was nine, his father died. Chief Jongintaba took the boy under his wing and became his official guardian. He sent Mandela to prestigious mission schools, first Clarkebury and then Healdtown, where a British teacher, one Mr Wellington, decided that the boy would be known as “Nelson” after the Admiral. Mandela embraced his new name and was steeped in English literature and British history. Read on.
You can also read David's tribute to 'the man who changed the course of history here, and the full Telegraph obituary here.
07.05 Peta Thornycroft has been talking to mourners outside Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg.
I had to come here after we heard he had died, we were out having a few drinks with friends, and then, well, we just had to come, to be close, we couldn't stay away He is the father of our nation. He took our civil war away and made us a peaceful land - Michael Barnett, 26
He changed the world, he changed our world, and I met him at a bar mitzvah where I was taking pictures in 1995, and I took one of him and he signed it and I will go home tonight and look at it again. And remember - Trevor Sacks
Oh, I had to come here so I would not cry ... There is so much pain here - Marion Geddes, 31
Oh, I had to come here when I heard. We grew up as youths knowing about him, our mothers taught us about him. Because of him we grew up in hope. Now what a state we are all in, even though we knew for so long this was coming - Karabo Lediga, 32
06.56 Newspaper A-boards in South Africa declare the news.
(Reuters)
06.40 Thabo Mbeki, who replaced Mandela as president of South Africa in 1999, has paid tribute to his predecessor in a statement. Here's an excerpt:
"His departure represents a very sad moment of grief for his family.
"But it also constitutes a personal loss for us because over many decades, he served both as our guide and one of our fathers.
"President Mandela, Madiba, and his generation of freedom fighters walked their long walk and made enormous sacrifices which eventually led to our freedom in 1994.
"His passing signals the end of an historic era represented by the heroic deeds of his generation.
"Thus, President Mandela’s departure demands of those of us who remain, South Africans and all Africans on the rest of our Continent, that we commit ourselves selflessly to address the many challenges we face.
"President Mandela and his generation discovered the mission of their generation.
"They were at all times faithful to it, as a result of which they fulfilled it.
"As we mourn President Mandela's passing we must ask ourselves the fundamental question – what shall we do to respond to the tasks of building a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, a people centred society free of hunger, poverty, disease and inequality, as well as Africa's renaissance, to whose attainment President Nelson Mandela dedicated his whole life?
06.28 Graça Machel, the woman who became Mandela's third wife on his 80th birthday, has been paying tribute to her late husband on Twitter and thanking the people of South Africa for their tributes.
<noframe>Twitter: Graca Machel - I want to take this opportunity to thank Our Nation South Africa for the condolences messages. I will miss my <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Legend" target="_blank">#Legend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23RIPNelsonMandela" target="_blank">#RIPNelsonMandela</a></noframe>
06.00 Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who herself spent many years in detention, has lamented the passing of a "great human being who ... made us understand that we can change the world".
05.25 A must-read this morning. The Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, David Blair, on the man who changed the course of history:
The theme running through Nelson Mandela’s life was his unshakeable belief
that one human being can change the course of history dramatically for the
better.
In a bitterly divided South Africa, Mandela won the love of almost all his compatriots; in a sceptical age, he became perhaps the only genuinely global hero...
04.35 The Dalai Lama said on Friday, in a letter sent to the family of Nelson Mandela, that he would miss a "dear friend" who he hailed as "a man of courage, principle and unquestionable integrity".
In a statement on his website, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said that "the best tribute we can pay to him is to do whatever we can to contribute to honouring the oneness of humanity and working for peace and reconciliation as he did".
04.20 Fittingly for a man who played a role in bringing both the rugby and football World Cup to a post-aparthied South Africa, and who boxed in his youth and even kept a rigorous fitness during his time at Robben Island, the world of sport has been expressing its collective sadness at his death.
Barney Henderson rounds up some of the most heart-felt and poignant here. And recalls the great man's views on what sport can, and should, mean:
Sport has the power to change the world," Mandela once said. "It
has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that
little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport
can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than
governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all
types of discrimination.
03.50 Of all the tributes that have been paid in the hours since his death, that of Archbishop Desmond Tutu stands out for its simplicty and eloquency:
We are relieved that his suffering is over, but our relief is drowned by our
grief. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
03.20 Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has drawn parallels between Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi:
<noframe>Twitter: Dr Manmohan Singh - PM: His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul.</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Dr Manmohan Singh - PM on Nelson Mandela : "A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian."</noframe>
02.45 Former US President Jimmy Carter has some appropriate words to sum up the legacy of Mandela, while the current First Lady, too, paid tribute:
The people of South Africa and human rights advocates around the world have
lost a great leader. His passion for freedom and justice created new hope
for generations of oppressed people worldwide, and because of him, South
Africa is today one of the world’s leading democracies.
<noframe>Twitter: FLOTUS - We will forever draw strength and inspiration from Nelson Mandela&rsquo;s extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness, and humility. &ndash;mo</noframe>
02.18 The White House have released this summary of President Barack Obama's call to President Zuma of South Africa:
President Obama spoke by phone this evening with South African President Jacob Zuma to express his heartfelt condolences on the death of Former President Nelson Mandela. The President conveyed how profoundly Mandela’s extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness, and humility influenced his own life, as well as those of millions around the world. President Obama reaffirmed that the strong and historic partnership between the United States and South Africa will continue to draw strength from Mandela’s legacy as we work together to promote equality, reconciliation and human dignity, and to build a more just and prosperous world.
02.10 The New Yorker magazine have put together a suitably striking from cover for their next edition:
01.46 Early this morning, it was confirmed that Mr Mandela's daughters with Winnie Mandela, Zenani and Zindzi, both attended the premiere of his biopic in London and were given the news as they sat watching the film.
"They received the news of their father’s passing during the screening and immediately left the cinema," a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
Prince William was among the guests at the film's screening last night. Here is his reaction to the news:
01.24 More from Aislinn Laing, the Telegraph's correspondent in South Africa:
Mr Mandela’s old ally and friend Ahmed Kathrada, with whom he
shared his prison sentence on Robben Island, said that losing “the last of
the A-team, my older brother” left him feeling “bereft and lonely”.
“We have known each other for 67 years, and I never imagined I’d be witness to the unavoidable and traumatic reality of your passing,” he said.
“I had the enviable privilege of being alive and walking the earth with you through the bad times and the good. It has been a long walk, with many challenges that at times seemed insurmountable. And yet we never faltered, and the strength of leaders like you and Walter (Sisulu, the ANC Secretary General) always shone a light on the path and kept our destination and our people’s future in view.”
01.12 The world continues to react to the news of Mandela's death. This from China's official state news agency:
<noframe>Twitter: Xinhua News Agency - China expressed condolences over passing of Nelson Mandela and praised him as "an old friend of the Chinese people."</noframe>
01.05 FW de Klerk, with whom Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their work dismantling apartheid, said that he had honoured his promise to look after South Africans of all colours.
He made a unique contribution not only to the establishment of our
constitutional democracy but also to the cause of national reconciliation
and nation-building. Nelson Mandela’s courage, charm and commitment to
reconciliation and to the Constitution, were an inspiration not only for
South Africans but for the whole world.
00.48 A look at some of the front pages that will be hitting news stands in the UK later this morning:
00.37 More from journalist Peta Thornycroft, who is outside Mandela's house in Johannesburg where people have gathered to pay respect:
Somehow it isn't a grieving crowd, it is people who have come out in the
middle of the night, some in their dressing gowns, not to cry, but to
remember him, to say how much they loved him. Very few people are crying,
they are smiling at the house, smiling, they said, with their memories of
him, and they are telling each other about their Mandela moments along the
pavements under the old English trees planted so long in this old
Johannesburg suburbs. A dark road, lit up by street lamps and police car
lights.
00.17 Matthew Holehouse with more on how the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge learned of Mr Mandela's death while at the premiere of a film about his life.
Prince
William and his wife were told Mr Mandela had passed away by an
aide while attending the London premiere of Mandela: The Long Walk to
Freedom.
The news of his death was broken to the audience after the credits rolled by a tearful Idris Elba, who plays Mandela in the film, to gasps and wails.
The audience, which included Mr Mandela's daughter Zindzi, observed a two-minutes’ silence.
Speaking in the foyer of the Leicester Square Odeon afterwards, the Prince said: "I just wanted to say it's extremely sad and tragic news. We were just reminded what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. It's very sad."
00.11 Our foreign correspondent Harriet Alexander tweets:
<noframe>Twitter: Harriet Alexander - Driving through London, past crowds gathering at statue in Parliament Sq. Tributes and his speeches on World Service. Could drive all night</noframe>
00.07 British MPs will be given the opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Mandela on Monday, David Cameron has confirmed.
<noframe>Twitter: David Cameron - I've spoken to the Speaker and there will be statements and tributes to Nelson Mandela in the House on Monday.</noframe>
00.01 Bill Clinton has paid tribute to the former president of South Africa, saying:
History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and
freedom, for peace and reconciliation.
We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Graca and his family and to the people of South Africa.
All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived.
Nelson Mandela addresses a squatter camp in Tokoza in 1990
23.53 <noframe>Twitter: Rohit Kachroo - The man the world most adores, Nelson Mandela, dead aged 95. Outside his home crowd of teenagers, none with any memory of apartheid</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Rohit Kachroo - Outside the Mandela home. Songs from the struggle being sung. Crowds celebrating a great life. Singing but no tears.</noframe>
23.50 Watch President Zuma's full television address as he told South Africa - and the world - of Mr Mandela's death:
And David Cameron's reaction to the news:
23.46 F.W de Klerk, the final president of apartheid-era South Africa, has responded to the death of Nelson Mandela. He told the BBC:
We had our moments of tension ... but after our retirement and at times during
our presidency we became very close. He was a remarkable man. His biggest
legacy will be emphasis on reconciliation, his remarkable lack of
bitterness. And he didn't only talk about reconciliation; he lived for
reconciliation. He was a great unifier.
I think his greatest legacy as an imprint on the South African nation is that we are basically at peace with each other, notwithstanding our great diversity; that we will be shaking hands once again now around his death and around our common sadness and mourning. His greatest legacy was that he was a unifier and that he successfully built the bridge between the conflict of the past and the peace of today.
Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk after the first presidential
inauguration on May 10, 1994
23.38 This coming through from journalist Peta Thornycroft, who is outside Mandela's house in Johannesburg:
Michael Barnett, 26, an accountant from Johannesburg, told me: "I had to
come here after we heard he had died. We were out having a few drinks with
friends, and then, well, we just had to come, to be close, we couldn't stay
away. He is the father of our nation. He took our civil war away and made us
a peaceful land."
His friends' eyes were blinking from sleeplessness, and they shook their heads as they looked at the house where Mr Mandela had died nearly three hours previously.
Ever more South Africans crushed into the street area, now cordoned off by police, but still quite close to the entrance to Mr Mandela's Houghton home.
Trevor Sacks, a commercial photographer, said: "He changed the world, he changed our world. I met him at a bar mitzvah where I was taking pictures in 1995, and I took one of him. He signed it and I will go home tonight and look at it again. And remember."
People sit behind burning candles for former president Nelson Mandela on
hearing of his passing outside his Johannesburg home (AP)
23.19 Nelson Mandela's first TV interview, from 1961:
23.15 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had been attending the Royal Film Performance of the biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom in Leicester Square when they heard the news. Prince William said as he left the cinema:
I just wanted to say it's extremely sad and tragic news. We were just reminded
what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was. My thoughts and
prayers are with him and his family. It's very sad.
The Duchess of Cambridge speaks with Zindzi Mandela, daughter of South
African leader Nelson Mandela, before the royal film premiere of "Mandela:
Long Walk to Freedom" (AFP)
23.07 Ed Miliband has also paid tribute to the late South African leader. He said Mr Mandela had remained “an activist” throughout his life, campaigning to “reminded the richest nations of the world of their responsibilities to the poorest.”
He showed us the power of people, in the cause of justice, to overcome the
mightiest obstacles. He moved the world and the world will miss him deeply.
<noframe>Twitter: Ed Miliband - The world has lost the global hero of our age. Nelson Mandela showed us the true meaning of courage, hope, and reconciliation.</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Ed Miliband - Deep condolences to Graca Machel, his family and friends and to all the people of South Africa.</noframe>
23.03 David Cameron has made a further statement following the death of Nelson Mandela. He said:
A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a towering figure
in our time; a legend in life and now in death - a true global hero
Across the country he loved they will be mourning a man who was the embodiment of grace. Meeting him was one of the great honours of my life. My heart goes out to his family - and to all in South Africa and around the world whose lives were changed through his courage.
(AFP/Getty Images)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, said Mr Mandela had been “freed to be with his God”.
The world is challenged to show the same degree of humanity as he had done in
his life.
South Africa has lost its greatest citizen and its father. Nelson Mandela, fighting to the end, is freed to be with his God in joy and reward for his great service and sacrifice. We pray for his family, for his friends and for his country.
We are challenged to show the same degree of humanity, of courage and of generosity.
22.57 <noframe>Twitter: Barack Obama - President Obama remembers Nelson Mandela: "A man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice."</noframe>
22.56 This from our correspondent Raf Sanchez, in Washington, as President Barack Obama reacts to Mr Mandela's death:
President Barack Obama tonight led the world in mourning the passing of
Nelson Mandela, calling the South African leader "a man who took
history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice".
Speaking less than an hour after Mandela's death was announced, Mr Obama said the 95-year-old's life had inspired his own historic path to the White House. "And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set," Mr Obama said. "And so long as Iive, I will do what I can to learn from him."
Mandela had already been sentenced to life imprisonment by the time Mr Obama was born in 1964 but the two men will be linked in history as the first black leaders of nations with histories scarred by racism.
Mr Obama said that the first political action he ever took was to join the global anti-apartheid movement that Mandela sparked while at university in California.
"We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again, so it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set - to make decisions guided not by hate but by love, never discount the difference that one person can make, to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice"
22.48 Further tributes are coming in for Mr Mandela. Tony Blair said he was a "great man" who had made racism "not just immoral but stupid".
Mr Blair said:
"Through his leadership, he guided the world into a new era of politics
in which black and white, developing and developed, north and south, despite
all the huge differences in wealth and opportunity, stood for the first time
together on equal terms.
Through his dignity, grace and the quality of his forgiveness, he made racism everywhere not just immoral but stupid; something not only to be disagreed with, but to be despised. In its place he put the inalienable right of all humankind to be free and to be equal.
I worked with him closely, and remember well his visits to Downing Street. He was a wonderful man to be around, with a sharp wit, extraordinary political savvy and a lovely way of charming everyone in a building.
Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, walking hand in hand after his release
from Victor Verster Prison on February 11, 1990 (AP)
22.40 President Zuma told the South African people in a television address that Mr Mandela died at his family home in Johannesburg at 8.50pm local time this evening.
My fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding
president of our democratic nation has departed.
He passed on peacefully in the company of his family around 20.50 on December 5 2013.
He is now resting. He is now at peace.
Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.
Although we knew that this day would 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, his compassion, and his humanity earned him their love. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. To them we owe a debt of gratitude.
22.31 President Jacob Zuma announces the death of Nelson Mandela
(AP)
22.20 Read the first instalment of our seven part obituary of the former President of South Africa, who guided the country from apartheid to democracy.
Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95, was the architect of South Africa’s
transformation from racial despotism to liberal democracy, saving his
country from civil war and becoming its first black president.
This singular triumph crowned a tempestuous life, filled with hardship and struggle. Mandela spent 27 years behind bars, and more than a decade before that as a hardened enemy of the white supremacist regime, serving variously as street activist, guerrilla leader and township lawyer.
Nelson Mandela in 1961 (AP)
22.18 Tributes are starting to come in from world leaders. This from David Cameron via Twitter:
<noframe>Twitter: David Cameron - A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero of our time. I've asked for the flag at No10 to be flown at half mast.</noframe>
22.09 This from Aislinn Laing, the Telegraph's correspondent in South Africa:
Mr Mandela suffered from a series of lung infections over the past two
years and died at home.
His wife, Graca Machel, and some of his three children, 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren were with him in his final days, with other family and friends in attendance.
The former president's body will most likely to taken to the Waterkloof Military Base in Pretoria, where it will be embalmed and prepared for public display.
In a televised address on Thursday night, Mr Zuma said: "Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.
"What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves."
21.51 Good evening, Nelson Mandela has died aged 95 following a long struggle with respiratory problems. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma broke the news in a television address. Follow reaction and developments live here.
17.15 Watch the Queen's tribute to Nelson Mandela:
17.00 Barack Obama will travel to South Africa next week to attend the memorial events for Nelson Mandela, the White House has announced.
"President Obama and the first lady will go to South Africa next week to pay their respects to the memory of Nelson Mandela and to participate in memorial events. We'll have further updates on timing and logistics as they become available," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
16.50 Our Southern Africa correspondent Aislinn Laing reports from outside Mandela's house in Houghton, where crowds have been gathering to pay tribute.
16.25 The second one-day international between South Africa and India will go ahead in Durban on Sunday, and will be marked by a tribute to Mandela, Cricket South Africa have confirmed.
16.15 Peter Oborne, The Telegraph's chief political commentator, says that Nelson Mandela can be compared to Jesus.
There are very few human beings who can be compared to Jesus Christ. Nelson
Mandela is one. This is because he was a spiritual leader as much as a
statesman. His colossal moral strength enabled him to embark on new and
unimaginable forms of action. He could lead through the strength of example
alone.
Most politicians, including those in democratic countries like Britain, inspire their followers by appealing to their basest instincts. Mandela appealed to the noblest and most splendid part of our fallen nature. Only one other 20th-century leader can be spoken of like this — Mahatma Gandhi. Mandela and Ghandi made us all better people, and our world a much better place.
It is also important to remember that, even though Mandela was a South African and Gandhi Indian, they did belong to all of us. This is because they both taught a universal message. They refused to represent simply a clan, a sect, a tribe, a class, a race or even a single religion.
They embraced humanity, rather than excluded it. They sought moral rather than physical power. Gandhi was an Indian nationalist, but his India was really an idea or a vision of humanity as much as of a country.
Mandela was a South African, but he embraced all facets of his magnificent country.
16.11 Francois Pienaar, the Springboks Rugby World Cup-winning captain, has spoken to Mick Cleary, The Telegraph's Rugby Correspondent, paying Mandela, who became his children's godfather, an emotional tribute.
I never imagined that I would be so emotional... You think you will be
prepared but it turns out you are not. I turned off the phone and switched
on my TV and just watched and watched these tributes pouring in from all
over the globe. Of course, we knew this day was coming. But it does not make
it any easier to take.
Francois Pienaar accepts the William Webb Ellis trophy from Nelson
Mandela in 1995
15.40 The Norwegian Nobel committee has also paid tributed to the Nobel Laureate. Mandela won the prize in 1993 together with South Africa's then-president FW de Klerk.
His work presents a message also today to all those who bear responsibility
for apparently unresolvable conflicts.
Even the most bitter of conflicts can be solved by peaceful means.
Nelson Mandela and President F.W. de Klerk address a crowd in front of
the Union Building in Johannesburg
15.37 The Telegraph has compiled the best video tributes to Mandela, and you can submit your own here.
14.45 Mandla Mandela has said the messages received by the family since the death of his grandfather had "overwhelmed"them.
All that I can do is thank God that I had a grandfather who loved and
guided all of us in the family.
"The best lesson that he taught all of us was the need for us to be prepared to be of service to our people."
"We in the family recognise that Madiba belongs not only to us but to the entire world. The messages we have received since last night have heartened and overwhelmed us."
14.32 Watch UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's statement on Mandela, who he describes as a "giant for justice".
Ban Ki-Moon: Nelson Mandela was a 'giant for justice'
14.20 Former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, who led the South African team to their Rugby World Cup victory in 1995, has released a statement on the death of then president Mandela:
“Nelson Mandela was the most extraordinary and incredible human being, not
only because he united his country when such a task seemed impossible but
also because, through his unique humanity, he inspired hundreds of millions
of people across the globe.
“It was my great fortune and privilege to receive the Webb Ellis Cup from Madiba at the conclusion of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, creating what has become an iconic image of national success, unity and reconciliation that resonates with all South Africans.
“I will always be profoundly grateful for the personal role Nelson Mandela has played in my life, as my President and my example.”
14.15 London Mayor Boris Johnson has told Telegraph TV outside the South African High Commission in the city that Nelson Mandela is a "secular saint".
14.12 Mick Cleary, the Telegraph's rugby correspondent, looks at the tributes to Nelson Mandela from the Springboks, whose shirt he wore when he attended the 1995 World Cup final in the country, a gesture that reverberated through South Africa and the world.
Morne du Plessis, (Springbok manager and former team captain in the apartheid era), dismisses the nation that Mandela's decision to wear the Springbok jersey was carefully calculated.
"I don't think it was and I don't think it would have had the same resonance if it had been," said du Plessis. "It was not a methodical plan to use the World Cup as a tool to win over Afrikaans support. It was simply his feeling at the time. It was him believing that this is what needed to be done and it was him who was going to do it. It was just want the country needed and still needs. It was the day we believed anything was possible."
13.42 New York correspondent Philip Sherwell reports on reactions to the news of Mandela's death in the city:
In New York’s Harlem neighbourhood, the world famous marquee of the Apollo Theatre proclaimed: "In Memory of Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013. He changed our world."
The marquee bore a very different message in 1990 when Mr Mandela was mobbed by huge crowds during his visit to the historic heart of black New York with his wife following his release from prison.
“Welcome Home Mr & Mrs Mandela. We love you, we love you, we love you”, it read.
Passers-by on 125th St expressed their sadness, but also celebrated the life of a great man. "He leaves a legacy that I think is beautiful, extraordinary, he is the one that epitomises what it means to be a great human being," said one man.
In Brooklyn, crowds gathered at Madiba, a popular South African restaurant named after him. Paintings and photographs hang on the walls and news of his death was played over the television to stunned diners.
The mood turned from shock and sorrow to celebration as people recalled what he embodied for them. "He represents hope for humanity in terms of the global human family," one diner told New York One.
"Mandela is that person that represented hope for us as humanity, the differences that we have. He's the person that made it possible to see that we can all come together and live together and be together, despite all our differences, despite all the idiosyncrasies that we have."
13.34 Mandela is to lie in state in Pretoria from December 11 to 13, followed by a state funeral in Qunu on December 15, President Jacob Zuma has announced.
13.28 John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has urged Israel and the Palestinians to follow Mandela's lead and make peace. Speaking in Tel Aviv at the end of a two-day visit intended to encourage the two sides in stuttering peace talks, Mr Kerry quoted Mandela as having said: "It always seems impossible until it is done."
"That example of Nelson Mandela is an example we all need to take to heart as we try to reach a two-state solution," he said.
Both Israel and the Palestinians have paid tribute to Mandela, the latter describing him as an inspiration for their struggle for statehood.
13.17 We have put together some of the key moments of Mandela's life, stretching back to 1960 and the Sharpeville massacre as told by Daily Telegraph front pages. For history and indeed newspaper afficionados, it's a fascinating insight.
12.57 Hundreds of people have queued up outside the South African High Commission in London in order to sign a book of condolence.
Among them was South African expat Vega Hall-Martin, who has lived in London for ten years.
I am South African and I do see him as the father of my nation. He represents
so much to me, respect, dignity, forgiveness.
When I think what South Africa could have been, if it wasn't for him there would have been civil war.
I am very passionate about my country and he is in my people's heart...
I hope the country can embody what he stood for going forward and not lose his message in corruption and greed.
There is a danger of that but I think he is strong enough and his legacy is powerful enough to avoid it.
I came here because it is somewhere I can feel close to South Africa.
Another, Jonathan Brown, 68, also came to pay his respects.
We followed his life closely. He is one of the most amazing human beings
who's ever lived. He is an inspiration to the world.
12.45 Desmond Tutu, one of Nelson Mandela's oldest friends, has called on South Africans to continue to work for ever closer unity in the wake of his death:
“Because of him we amazed the world, a world that thought we would live in
eternal devastation caused by apartheid.
"The sun will rise tomorrow. It will not be as bright as yesterday. But life will carry on.
"God is asking South Africans, please become what you are, show the world we are members of one family. We belong together."
12.27 From my colleague Gordon Rayner - The Duke of York has recalled meeting Mandela during a State visit to the UK in 2000 and again on a visit to South Africa in 2002. Visiting a college in Reading, Prince Andrew said:
"I met him a couple of times, quite the most remarkable man I
remember. I have not met a man with more compassion and less bitterness. I
count it one of life's true privileges to have had the opportunity to have a
conversation with him, just remarkable. It's really sad but age shall not
weary them nor the years condemn.
"Just being beside him during the State visit when he came here and I just remember his height, he was a boxer and we were in the Albert Hall, he was talking to me about boxing. And then meeting him in South Africa was the other one."
12.10 The front page of the Daily Telegraph on Saturday October 16 1993,
the day after Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Daily Telegraph, Oct 16 1993
12.05 Pope Francis has paid tribute to Nelson Mandela's struggle in South Africa, praising his commitment to human dignity, non-violence and reconciliation. He sent a telegram to South African President Jacob Zuma praising the "steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela in promoting the human dignity of all the nation's citizens and in forging a new South Africa".
I pray that the late president's example will inspire generations of South
Africans to put justice and the common good at the forefront of their
political aspirations
It was with sadness that I learned of the death... and I send prayerful condolences to all the Mandela family, to the members of the government and to all the people of South Africa.
I ask the Lord to console and strengthen all who mourn his loss.
11.23 "Just feeling sad and praying has not much meaning," said the Dalai Lama today in response to the news. "Now we must develop determination to carry his spirit, that is the really important thing."
10.59 Southern Africa correspondent Aislinn Laing is outside the house in Houghton, Johannesburg where Mandela died late last night and where huge crowds have gathered to pay tribute.
<noframe>Twitter: Aislinn Laing - Mandela would be thrilled to see what's happening outside his house right now - hundreds of South Africans of every age, race and religion.</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Aislinn Laing - Julian Moses brought his 3 daughters to lay flowers. "I'm really holding back the tears.I was a young man when he walked free from prison."</noframe>
10.56 The Union flag on the Foreign Office in London is flying at half
mast.
(Image: Foreign Office Twitter account)
10.49 All normal programming and advertising has been scrapped at South Africa's national broadcaster to make way for tributes to Mandela, according to City Press, a Sunday newspaper in the country.
The broadcaster's three TV channels will reportedly be showing the same coverage. South African cinema chains have also announced they will not screen the new Mandela biopic today out of respect.
It was confirmed earlier this morning that Mandela's daughters Zenani and Zindzi, along with his ex-wife Winnie, were at the screening and were given the news as they sat watching the film.
"They received the news of their father’s passing during the screening and immediately left the cinema," a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
10.35 Floral tributes placed by the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament
Square, central London.
(PA)
10.29 A street in Paris - from my colleague Henry Samuel: Anne Hidalgo, Paris' deputy mayor promises to create a Nelson Mandela street as soon as possible in the French capital and before the normal five-year waiting period after the death of a famous figure.
François Hollande, the French president, also paid tribute to Mandela today.
Nelson Mandela made history – in South Africa’s and the whole world. In his
tireless fight against apartheid he struck it down through courage,
stubbornness and persistence.
Mandela's message will not disappear. It will continue to inspire those fighting for freedom and to give confidence to people defending just causes and universal rights.
He showed that the human will could not only break the bonds of servitude but free up energy to succeed in building a common destiny.
10.23 Rivonia trial speech - in 1964, Nelson Mandela and others were charged with treason over acts of sabotage and violence on behalf of 'Spear of the Nation', the military wing of the ANC that Mandela helped found. From the dock, he proclaimed his willingness to die for his cause.
During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African
people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against
black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see
realised. But, My Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am
prepared to die.
Read the full speech here.
09.55 Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, has tweeted his tribute to Mandela.
<noframe>Twitter: Hassan Rouhani - With a heavy heart, we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela. Surely, his legacy will remain a source of <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23inspiration" target="_blank">#inspiration</a> and courage for all people.</noframe>
09.54 A man reads the Soweto Star, a local newspaper in the town Mandela
lived in between 1946 and 1962.
(ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
09.43 Condolences in Britain - Westminster Abbey will hold a national service of thanksgiving for Mandela after the state funeral for him in South Africa, and a book of condolence will be opened at St Margaret's Church at the Abbey from 9.30am today.
09.33 'He taught us forgiveness on a grand scale' - Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend and civil rights campaigner, has paid tribute to Mandela in a statement issued from the Ali Center in Louisville.
He made us realise, we are our brother's keeper and that our brothers come in
all colours. What I will remember most about Mandela is that he was a man
whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial
and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge. He
taught us forgiveness on a grand scale.
09.24 A day of mourning has been declared by the Palestinian Authority. My colleague Robert Tait is in the West Bank.
In the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president
declared a day of mourning and ordered all Palestinian flags to be flown at
half mast. Mandela was a brave man who supported the Palestinian people, the
PA's Wafa News Agency reported Abbas as saying.
09.13 From the City desk - The Johannesburg Stock exchange paused trading for five minutes to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela. The pause started at 11am (9am London).
09.09 In the first comment from Nelson Mandela's family since his passing, his grandson has expressed gratitude for the global outpouring of support, saying his family had been "overwhelmed" by the response.
"The messages we have received since last night have heartened and overwhelmed us," said Mandla Mandela.
08.59 Reader tributes - here are a selection of tributes to Mandela already sent in by Telegraph readers. We'll be publishing more, and in full, soon.
My wife and I had our first date on an anti-apartheid picket in Trafalgar Square. He was not perfect and South Africa is not perfect, but he was a moral compass that still inspires - Charlie Beckett, London
I went to see him in Hyde Park for his 90th birthday. I queued for six hours with my daughter. It's things like this that I will look back at when my life is ending - Somie Takhar
How can anyone write a tribute for one so great? A prisoner who became the president of the South Africa and the captivator of the world’s heart. He continued to remind us that we are not born to hate – love is an instinctive feeling which we enjoy ... Rolihlahla Mandela your long walk to freedom is now over. You were a messenger to the world - a present day saint. Today you have united the world as one – under your unique banner of love - you will live on - Jinty Joy Orange, Abu Dhabi
The last statesmanlike politician - Roger Jones
Nowadays we've slipped into the easy option of the meaningless phrase: One of the greatest. Nelson was the greatest statesman of the 20th century. No one believed more sincerely, no one sacrificed more and no one was so magnanimous in triumph - James Blears, Mexico City
08.45 US president Barack Obama is likely to fly to Johannesburg either tonight or tomorrow, along with a number of other world leaders. Firm plans have not yet been announced by The White House or Downing Street.
08.36 Today's New York Times front page carries a single piece about
Mandela amidst its other news, written by former executive editor Bill
Keller. It uses the same picture that adorns the
front of today's Daily Telegraph.
08.29 What happens next - South Africa's farewell to Nelson Mandela will be a huge national event. Here are some of the main elements of the country's plan for the next few days.
Condolence books will be opened at all South Africa’s foreign embassies as well as at his former home in Soweto, which is now a popular museum. A special sitting of parliament may also be held in Cape Town, South Africa’s legislative capital.
A ceremony of remembrance will be to be held, most likely in the Soweto football stadium that previously hosted the soccer World Cup, known by locals as the Calabash after its resemblance to a traditional beer-drinking pot.
Mandela’s body will spend some time lying in state, either in Pretoria’s City Hall or the Union Buildings. One day will be set aside for the VIPs expected to fly in and afterwards the doors will be opened to ordinary citizens.
Mandela’s body will be flown to Qunu, the tiny village 900 kilometres south in the rural Eastern Cape, where Mandela grew up, with his coffin likely to be met by President Zuma and a full military contingent to accompany it on a 30-kilometre procession to its final resting place at his home.
08.07 Following on from the Prime Minister's statement, George Osborne has paid tribute to Mandela on Radio 4.
It is not just his incredible stand for freedom and the endurance of being in
prison for so many years, but then turning around and reconciling himself
with the people who kept him captive.
And not only did he as a result avoid a very bloody civil war in South Africa but I think he stands for something much bigger than that which is that there can be hope and reconciliation and I think that’s the most extraordinary thing about Nelson Mandela.
The Prime Minister said earlier that MPs would be given the opportunity to pay their own tributes to Mandela in the House of Commons on Monday.
08.04 "He chose reconciliation over revenge and retribution" - human rights campaigner Jesse Jackson spoke to the Telegraph about the legacy of the Nelson Mandela.
07.49 Zelda La Grange, Mandela's former private secretary, has made a moving tribute to the man she spent many years working with and who called her his 'honourary granddaughter'. Here it is in full:
My sincere condolences to Mrs Graça Machel (Mum), Maki, Zeni, Zindzi, Josina,
Malenga and the entire Mandela family as well as everyone who feels a sense
of loss this morning.
Nelson Mandela inspired people to forgive, to reconcile, to care, to be selfless, to be tolerant, to maintain dignity no matter what the circumstances. I can attest to each of these because these are the ways in which he changed my life over the past 19 years. I am blessed and honoured by the privilege to have had the opportunity to serve him.
I often battled with the relentless pressure. But then I looked to him who carried himself with such grace and energy. I never left, I never could. Nelson Mandela did not demand loyalty, but he inspired profound and unwavering loyalty from everybody whose life he touched.
And now, as we grieve the departure of Madiba I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I will never see him again. But heroes never die. As sad as it makes me that I will never walk into a room again and see his generous infectious smile or hear him say "Oh Zeldina, you are here" I have come to terms with the fact that Madiba's legacy is not dependent on his presence.
His legacy will not only live on in everything that has been named after him, the books, the images, the movies. It will live on in how we feel when we hear his name, the respect and love, the unity he inspired in us as a country but particularly how we relate to one-another.
Madiba will forever be present in my life because he made me into the human being I am today. I will cherish every smile, the pleasant but also the difficult times and especially my barefoot moments. Thank you for all the wonderful opportunities you afforded me, but most of all thank you for believing in me Khulu, making me a better person, a better South African.
Tot weersiens Khulu!! Will love you every day for the rest of my life.
07.34 Celebrations have been taking place outside Mandela's home in Johannesburg, where he died, throughout the night.
07.28 From my colleague David Blair, an account of the life and times of Nelson Mandela, including the story of how a boy from a South African township came to be called Nelson.
Mandela was one of Henry’s 12 children, born to Nosekeni, the third of four
wives. He was christened Rolihlahla (meaning “troublemaker”) and enjoyed a
traditional African childhood, herding cattle, learning stick fighting with
other boys and undergoing a circumcision ceremony.
When Mandela was nine, his father died. Chief Jongintaba took the boy under his wing and became his official guardian. He sent Mandela to prestigious mission schools, first Clarkebury and then Healdtown, where a British teacher, one Mr Wellington, decided that the boy would be known as “Nelson” after the Admiral. Mandela embraced his new name and was steeped in English literature and British history. Read on.
You can also read David's tribute to 'the man who changed the course of history here, and the full Telegraph obituary here.
07.05 Peta Thornycroft has been talking to mourners outside Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg.
I had to come here after we heard he had died, we were out having a few drinks with friends, and then, well, we just had to come, to be close, we couldn't stay away He is the father of our nation. He took our civil war away and made us a peaceful land - Michael Barnett, 26
He changed the world, he changed our world, and I met him at a bar mitzvah where I was taking pictures in 1995, and I took one of him and he signed it and I will go home tonight and look at it again. And remember - Trevor Sacks
Oh, I had to come here so I would not cry ... There is so much pain here - Marion Geddes, 31
Oh, I had to come here when I heard. We grew up as youths knowing about him, our mothers taught us about him. Because of him we grew up in hope. Now what a state we are all in, even though we knew for so long this was coming - Karabo Lediga, 32
06.56 Newspaper A-boards in South Africa declare the news.
(Reuters)
06.40 Thabo Mbeki, who replaced Mandela as president of South Africa in 1999, has paid tribute to his predecessor in a statement. Here's an excerpt:
"His departure represents a very sad moment of grief for his family.
"But it also constitutes a personal loss for us because over many decades, he served both as our guide and one of our fathers.
"President Mandela, Madiba, and his generation of freedom fighters walked their long walk and made enormous sacrifices which eventually led to our freedom in 1994.
"His passing signals the end of an historic era represented by the heroic deeds of his generation.
"Thus, President Mandela’s departure demands of those of us who remain, South Africans and all Africans on the rest of our Continent, that we commit ourselves selflessly to address the many challenges we face.
"President Mandela and his generation discovered the mission of their generation.
"They were at all times faithful to it, as a result of which they fulfilled it.
"As we mourn President Mandela's passing we must ask ourselves the fundamental question – what shall we do to respond to the tasks of building a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, a people centred society free of hunger, poverty, disease and inequality, as well as Africa's renaissance, to whose attainment President Nelson Mandela dedicated his whole life?
06.28 Graça Machel, the woman who became Mandela's third wife on his 80th birthday, has been paying tribute to her late husband on Twitter and thanking the people of South Africa for their tributes.
<noframe>Twitter: Graca Machel - I want to take this opportunity to thank Our Nation South Africa for the condolences messages. I will miss my <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Legend" target="_blank">#Legend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23RIPNelsonMandela" target="_blank">#RIPNelsonMandela</a></noframe>
06.00 Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who herself spent many years in detention, has lamented the passing of a "great human being who ... made us understand that we can change the world".
05.25 A must-read this morning. The Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, David Blair, on the man who changed the course of history:
The theme running through Nelson Mandela’s life was his unshakeable belief
that one human being can change the course of history dramatically for the
better.
In a bitterly divided South Africa, Mandela won the love of almost all his compatriots; in a sceptical age, he became perhaps the only genuinely global hero...
04.35 The Dalai Lama said on Friday, in a letter sent to the family of Nelson Mandela, that he would miss a "dear friend" who he hailed as "a man of courage, principle and unquestionable integrity".
In a statement on his website, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said that "the best tribute we can pay to him is to do whatever we can to contribute to honouring the oneness of humanity and working for peace and reconciliation as he did".
04.20 Fittingly for a man who played a role in bringing both the rugby and football World Cup to a post-aparthied South Africa, and who boxed in his youth and even kept a rigorous fitness during his time at Robben Island, the world of sport has been expressing its collective sadness at his death.
Barney Henderson rounds up some of the most heart-felt and poignant here. And recalls the great man's views on what sport can, and should, mean:
Sport has the power to change the world," Mandela once said. "It
has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that
little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport
can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than
governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all
types of discrimination.
03.50 Of all the tributes that have been paid in the hours since his death, that of Archbishop Desmond Tutu stands out for its simplicty and eloquency:
We are relieved that his suffering is over, but our relief is drowned by our
grief. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
03.20 Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has drawn parallels between Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi:
<noframe>Twitter: Dr Manmohan Singh - PM: His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul.</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Dr Manmohan Singh - PM on Nelson Mandela : "A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian."</noframe>
02.45 Former US President Jimmy Carter has some appropriate words to sum up the legacy of Mandela, while the current First Lady, too, paid tribute:
The people of South Africa and human rights advocates around the world have
lost a great leader. His passion for freedom and justice created new hope
for generations of oppressed people worldwide, and because of him, South
Africa is today one of the world’s leading democracies.
<noframe>Twitter: FLOTUS - We will forever draw strength and inspiration from Nelson Mandela&rsquo;s extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness, and humility. &ndash;mo</noframe>
02.18 The White House have released this summary of President Barack Obama's call to President Zuma of South Africa:
President Obama spoke by phone this evening with South African President Jacob Zuma to express his heartfelt condolences on the death of Former President Nelson Mandela. The President conveyed how profoundly Mandela’s extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness, and humility influenced his own life, as well as those of millions around the world. President Obama reaffirmed that the strong and historic partnership between the United States and South Africa will continue to draw strength from Mandela’s legacy as we work together to promote equality, reconciliation and human dignity, and to build a more just and prosperous world.
02.10 The New Yorker magazine have put together a suitably striking from cover for their next edition:
01.46 Early this morning, it was confirmed that Mr Mandela's daughters with Winnie Mandela, Zenani and Zindzi, both attended the premiere of his biopic in London and were given the news as they sat watching the film.
"They received the news of their father’s passing during the screening and immediately left the cinema," a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
Prince William was among the guests at the film's screening last night. Here is his reaction to the news:
01.24 More from Aislinn Laing, the Telegraph's correspondent in South Africa:
Mr Mandela’s old ally and friend Ahmed Kathrada, with whom he
shared his prison sentence on Robben Island, said that losing “the last of
the A-team, my older brother” left him feeling “bereft and lonely”.
“We have known each other for 67 years, and I never imagined I’d be witness to the unavoidable and traumatic reality of your passing,” he said.
“I had the enviable privilege of being alive and walking the earth with you through the bad times and the good. It has been a long walk, with many challenges that at times seemed insurmountable. And yet we never faltered, and the strength of leaders like you and Walter (Sisulu, the ANC Secretary General) always shone a light on the path and kept our destination and our people’s future in view.”
01.12 The world continues to react to the news of Mandela's death. This from China's official state news agency:
<noframe>Twitter: Xinhua News Agency - China expressed condolences over passing of Nelson Mandela and praised him as "an old friend of the Chinese people."</noframe>
01.05 FW de Klerk, with whom Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their work dismantling apartheid, said that he had honoured his promise to look after South Africans of all colours.
He made a unique contribution not only to the establishment of our
constitutional democracy but also to the cause of national reconciliation
and nation-building. Nelson Mandela’s courage, charm and commitment to
reconciliation and to the Constitution, were an inspiration not only for
South Africans but for the whole world.
00.48 A look at some of the front pages that will be hitting news stands in the UK later this morning:
00.37 More from journalist Peta Thornycroft, who is outside Mandela's house in Johannesburg where people have gathered to pay respect:
Somehow it isn't a grieving crowd, it is people who have come out in the
middle of the night, some in their dressing gowns, not to cry, but to
remember him, to say how much they loved him. Very few people are crying,
they are smiling at the house, smiling, they said, with their memories of
him, and they are telling each other about their Mandela moments along the
pavements under the old English trees planted so long in this old
Johannesburg suburbs. A dark road, lit up by street lamps and police car
lights.
00.17 Matthew Holehouse with more on how the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge learned of Mr Mandela's death while at the premiere of a film about his life.
Prince
William and his wife were told Mr Mandela had passed away by an
aide while attending the London premiere of Mandela: The Long Walk to
Freedom.
The news of his death was broken to the audience after the credits rolled by a tearful Idris Elba, who plays Mandela in the film, to gasps and wails.
The audience, which included Mr Mandela's daughter Zindzi, observed a two-minutes’ silence.
Speaking in the foyer of the Leicester Square Odeon afterwards, the Prince said: "I just wanted to say it's extremely sad and tragic news. We were just reminded what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. It's very sad."
00.11 Our foreign correspondent Harriet Alexander tweets:
<noframe>Twitter: Harriet Alexander - Driving through London, past crowds gathering at statue in Parliament Sq. Tributes and his speeches on World Service. Could drive all night</noframe>
00.07 British MPs will be given the opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Mandela on Monday, David Cameron has confirmed.
<noframe>Twitter: David Cameron - I've spoken to the Speaker and there will be statements and tributes to Nelson Mandela in the House on Monday.</noframe>
00.01 Bill Clinton has paid tribute to the former president of South Africa, saying:
History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and
freedom, for peace and reconciliation.
We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Graca and his family and to the people of South Africa.
All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived.
Nelson Mandela addresses a squatter camp in Tokoza in 1990
23.53 <noframe>Twitter: Rohit Kachroo - The man the world most adores, Nelson Mandela, dead aged 95. Outside his home crowd of teenagers, none with any memory of apartheid</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Rohit Kachroo - Outside the Mandela home. Songs from the struggle being sung. Crowds celebrating a great life. Singing but no tears.</noframe>
23.50 Watch President Zuma's full television address as he told South Africa - and the world - of Mr Mandela's death:
And David Cameron's reaction to the news:
23.46 F.W de Klerk, the final president of apartheid-era South Africa, has responded to the death of Nelson Mandela. He told the BBC:
We had our moments of tension ... but after our retirement and at times during
our presidency we became very close. He was a remarkable man. His biggest
legacy will be emphasis on reconciliation, his remarkable lack of
bitterness. And he didn't only talk about reconciliation; he lived for
reconciliation. He was a great unifier.
I think his greatest legacy as an imprint on the South African nation is that we are basically at peace with each other, notwithstanding our great diversity; that we will be shaking hands once again now around his death and around our common sadness and mourning. His greatest legacy was that he was a unifier and that he successfully built the bridge between the conflict of the past and the peace of today.
Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk after the first presidential
inauguration on May 10, 1994
23.38 This coming through from journalist Peta Thornycroft, who is outside Mandela's house in Johannesburg:
Michael Barnett, 26, an accountant from Johannesburg, told me: "I had to
come here after we heard he had died. We were out having a few drinks with
friends, and then, well, we just had to come, to be close, we couldn't stay
away. He is the father of our nation. He took our civil war away and made us
a peaceful land."
His friends' eyes were blinking from sleeplessness, and they shook their heads as they looked at the house where Mr Mandela had died nearly three hours previously.
Ever more South Africans crushed into the street area, now cordoned off by police, but still quite close to the entrance to Mr Mandela's Houghton home.
Trevor Sacks, a commercial photographer, said: "He changed the world, he changed our world. I met him at a bar mitzvah where I was taking pictures in 1995, and I took one of him. He signed it and I will go home tonight and look at it again. And remember."
People sit behind burning candles for former president Nelson Mandela on
hearing of his passing outside his Johannesburg home (AP)
23.19 Nelson Mandela's first TV interview, from 1961:
23.15 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had been attending the Royal Film Performance of the biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom in Leicester Square when they heard the news. Prince William said as he left the cinema:
I just wanted to say it's extremely sad and tragic news. We were just reminded
what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was. My thoughts and
prayers are with him and his family. It's very sad.
The Duchess of Cambridge speaks with Zindzi Mandela, daughter of South
African leader Nelson Mandela, before the royal film premiere of "Mandela:
Long Walk to Freedom" (AFP)
23.07 Ed Miliband has also paid tribute to the late South African leader. He said Mr Mandela had remained “an activist” throughout his life, campaigning to “reminded the richest nations of the world of their responsibilities to the poorest.”
He showed us the power of people, in the cause of justice, to overcome the
mightiest obstacles. He moved the world and the world will miss him deeply.
<noframe>Twitter: Ed Miliband - The world has lost the global hero of our age. Nelson Mandela showed us the true meaning of courage, hope, and reconciliation.</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Ed Miliband - Deep condolences to Graca Machel, his family and friends and to all the people of South Africa.</noframe>
23.03 David Cameron has made a further statement following the death of Nelson Mandela. He said:
A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a towering figure
in our time; a legend in life and now in death - a true global hero
Across the country he loved they will be mourning a man who was the embodiment of grace. Meeting him was one of the great honours of my life. My heart goes out to his family - and to all in South Africa and around the world whose lives were changed through his courage.
(AFP/Getty Images)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, said Mr Mandela had been “freed to be with his God”.
The world is challenged to show the same degree of humanity as he had done in
his life.
South Africa has lost its greatest citizen and its father. Nelson Mandela, fighting to the end, is freed to be with his God in joy and reward for his great service and sacrifice. We pray for his family, for his friends and for his country.
We are challenged to show the same degree of humanity, of courage and of generosity.
22.57 <noframe>Twitter: Barack Obama - President Obama remembers Nelson Mandela: "A man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice."</noframe>
22.56 This from our correspondent Raf Sanchez, in Washington, as President Barack Obama reacts to Mr Mandela's death:
President Barack Obama tonight led the world in mourning the passing of
Nelson Mandela, calling the South African leader "a man who took
history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice".
Speaking less than an hour after Mandela's death was announced, Mr Obama said the 95-year-old's life had inspired his own historic path to the White House. "And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set," Mr Obama said. "And so long as Iive, I will do what I can to learn from him."
Mandela had already been sentenced to life imprisonment by the time Mr Obama was born in 1964 but the two men will be linked in history as the first black leaders of nations with histories scarred by racism.
Mr Obama said that the first political action he ever took was to join the global anti-apartheid movement that Mandela sparked while at university in California.
"We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again, so it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set - to make decisions guided not by hate but by love, never discount the difference that one person can make, to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice"
22.48 Further tributes are coming in for Mr Mandela. Tony Blair said he was a "great man" who had made racism "not just immoral but stupid".
Mr Blair said:
"Through his leadership, he guided the world into a new era of politics
in which black and white, developing and developed, north and south, despite
all the huge differences in wealth and opportunity, stood for the first time
together on equal terms.
Through his dignity, grace and the quality of his forgiveness, he made racism everywhere not just immoral but stupid; something not only to be disagreed with, but to be despised. In its place he put the inalienable right of all humankind to be free and to be equal.
I worked with him closely, and remember well his visits to Downing Street. He was a wonderful man to be around, with a sharp wit, extraordinary political savvy and a lovely way of charming everyone in a building.
Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, walking hand in hand after his release
from Victor Verster Prison on February 11, 1990 (AP)
22.40 President Zuma told the South African people in a television address that Mr Mandela died at his family home in Johannesburg at 8.50pm local time this evening.
My fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding
president of our democratic nation has departed.
He passed on peacefully in the company of his family around 20.50 on December 5 2013.
He is now resting. He is now at peace.
Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.
Although we knew that this day would 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, his compassion, and his humanity earned him their love. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. To them we owe a debt of gratitude.
22.31 President Jacob Zuma announces the death of Nelson Mandela
(AP)
22.20 Read the first instalment of our seven part obituary of the former President of South Africa, who guided the country from apartheid to democracy.
Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95, was the architect of South Africa’s
transformation from racial despotism to liberal democracy, saving his
country from civil war and becoming its first black president.
This singular triumph crowned a tempestuous life, filled with hardship and struggle. Mandela spent 27 years behind bars, and more than a decade before that as a hardened enemy of the white supremacist regime, serving variously as street activist, guerrilla leader and township lawyer.
Nelson Mandela in 1961 (AP)
22.18 Tributes are starting to come in from world leaders. This from David Cameron via Twitter:
<noframe>Twitter: David Cameron - A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero of our time. I've asked for the flag at No10 to be flown at half mast.</noframe>
22.09 This from Aislinn Laing, the Telegraph's correspondent in South Africa:
Mr Mandela suffered from a series of lung infections over the past two
years and died at home.
His wife, Graca Machel, and some of his three children, 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren were with him in his final days, with other family and friends in attendance.
The former president's body will most likely to taken to the Waterkloof Military Base in Pretoria, where it will be embalmed and prepared for public display.
In a televised address on Thursday night, Mr Zuma said: "Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.
"What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves."
21.51 Good evening, Nelson Mandela has died aged 95 following a long struggle with respiratory problems. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma broke the news in a television address. Follow reaction and developments live here.
