14 DAY TRIAL // Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black President who, through his courageous fight for freedom and democracy, became an international icon of peace, has died. He was 95 years old and “is now at peace,” according to President Jacob Zuma.
Mandela’s health started taking a turn for the worse late last year, when he spent several weeks in hospital because of a severe lung infection. In March 2013, he was again hospitalized for the same ailment, with some reports citing his condition as serious.
The Chicago Tribune informs that President Zuma confirmed that the country and the world had lost “a father,” saying he “passed on peacefully in the company of his family around 20h50 on the 5th of December 2013. He is now resting. He is now at peace.”
Within minutes of the announcement, says the same media outlet, the streets of capital Pretoria and of Johannesburg went silent: the music was turned off in all public establishments as people were trying to come to terms with their loss.
The shock of the announcement is still to wear off, it is further said.
World leaders and politicians also reacted quickly, with US President Barack Obama among them. All pointed out that Mandela’s legacy to the entire world as far as courage, justice, and peace go is one that we will cherish for the rest of eternity.
Through his fight against the apartheid and his campaign for peace and reconciliation, he inspired millions to hope for a brighter, infinitely better future. He may be gone, but his many achievements have changed the world – and will for ever be remembered.
“He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today he's gone home, and we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth,” President Obama said in a statement at the White House after news of Mandela’s death broke.
“A great light has gone out in the world,” UK Prime Minister David Cameron said, calling Nelson Mandela a “hero of our time.”