Nelson Mandela South Africa's Anti-apartheid Icon, Dies Aged 95

Nelson Mandela has died today at the age of 95, according to South African President Jacob Zuma. His death marks the final chapter in a life that changed South Africa forever.

The former South African president had been suffering from a recurring lung infection, Zuma announced his death in a televised address to the nation. "Our nation has lost its greatest son, yet what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human," Zuma said.

"We saw in him what we seek in ourselves, and in him we saw so much of ourselves."

Mandela's struggle was one of the defining stories of the 20th century. Trained as a lawyer, he became involved in politics after 1948 as South Africa moved into a system of racial apartheid.


In accordance with his final wishes, and those of his family, he will then be flown the 550 miles south to his home village of Qunu, in the rural Eastern Cape.

Mandela is survived by his wife, Graça Machel, six children, and 17 grandchildren. Mandela had been sick for a long time. Earlier this year, South Africa's Sunday Times ran a story on Mandela's illness under the headline "It's time to let him go."
What a great lost! RIP Nelson Mandela You will Always be remembered.