Mandela, Man of the People, Farewell.

Rest In Peace Great Mandela! We will continue by your good examples. We miss you.

Last Siting of Madiba forever....so long Comrade

Last Siting of Madiba forever....so long Comrade

Former South African president Nelson Mandela's body has been buried at a family plot in Qunu following his state funeral service today.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela's body has been buried at a family plot in Qunu following his state funeral service today. This comes after Mandela died on 5 December aged 95, marking the tenth day of his commemoration. According to the BBC, about 4500 people including foreign dignitaries and the likes of the Prince of Wales and Oprah Winfrey were in attendance at the service which took place inside a specially erected marquee. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was also present despite having earlier said he had cancelled his flight because he wasn't invited. Various speakers paid tribute to Mandela while his widow Graca Machel and his former wife Winnie-Madikizela Mandela listened sitting on either side of president Jacob Zuma. Mandela's friend, Ahmed Kathrada, with whom he spent many years in prison on Robben Island recalled holding Mandela's hand the last time he saw him in hospital. "Farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader," said Kathrada. Malawian president Joyce Banda praised Machel and Madikizela Mandela for their love and tolerance. Zuma praised Mandela as a pillar of strength and beacon of hope for anyone fighting for a "just world order". "Whilst the long walk to freedom has ended in the physical sense, our own journey continues," said Zuma. Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda (89) also paid tribute to Mandela. The Mandela family reportedly requested privacy for the traditional Xhosa part of the burial during which an ox will be slaughtered and a family elder will talk "to the body's spirit" at the coffin which has been draped with a lion's skin.

Mandela's Coffin arrives at the Union Buildings in Pretoria...

Mandela's Coffin arrives at the Union Buildings in Pretoria... His body will lie in state at the seat of South Africa's government, till Friday.

GREAT MANDELA

GREAT MANDELA. LIKE MANDELA, WE DESIRE TO CREATE AN INDISPENSABLE LEGACY SO THAT POSTERITY & HISTORY WILL GIVE US A RIGHT VERDICT SEE HOW EVERY BODY ARE MOURNING HIS DEATH, SO CALLED NIGERIAN AND AFRICAN LEADERS WHO FORCES THEMSELVES TO POWER TO LOOT PUBLIC MONEY SHOULD LEAN A LOT FROM THE LIFE OF THIS HUMANITARIAN AND SELFLESS ICON HE LIVED A LIFE WORTHY OF EMULATION INDEED THE DEATH OF MANDELA IS GREAT LOSE,SLEEP WELL MY HERO MAY GOD BE WITH YOU TILL BE MEET AGAIN- By CHUDDY UGORJI

President Of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan My dear friends on facebook, the news of the passing of the great Nelson Mandela

Goodluck Jonathan My dear friends on facebook, the news of the passing of the great Nelson Mandela to ancestorhood has left Africa and the rest of humanity with a deep feeling of loss. Never in recent living memory has a leader mobilized the consciousness of human existence to the cause of freedom and the advancement of world civilization as did Mandela. By his exemplary life of humility and high inclusivity, the former president enshrined a beacon of hope for the hopeless and gave power to the powerless in the world as we know it today. He was a man who planted trees whose shade he knew he would never physically enjoy but was nonetheless satisfied that the trees would provide some shade for the living. As humanity looks into the future, the Mandela story will remain a most outstanding example of compassion, forgiveness and progress. Because of the work of Mandela and his compatriots, humanity now looks forward to a better world in the centuries ahead. Adieu, our leader Mandela! GEJ

Nelson Mandela's memorable moments

A chief's son. Pioneer. Revolutionary. Prisoner. Statesman. Elder. Few modern-day world leaders are revered as much as Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Then again, few can lay claim to a life like Mandela's. His father had a premonition when he granted his son the birth name, Rolihlahla — which roughly translates to "pull a tree branch" or, colloquially, "troublemaker." Mandela's legacy encompasses innumerable accomplishments that changed nations. Scroll through to see 10 defining moments.

Mandela was just a man, and that made what he did extraordinary By John Carlin

Editor's note: John Carlin wrote the book "Playing the Enemy," on which the Clint Eastwood film "Invictus" was based. He also worked on the ESPN film "The 16th Man," also based on his book, and the PBS film "The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela." He was bureau chief for the London Independent in South Africa from 1989 to 1995. LONDON -- I interviewed Nelson Mandela a month after he became president of South Africa at Pretoria’s Union Buildings, the seat of white power for generations. He said a lot of interesting things — among them, that he meant to retire after one five-year presidential term, explaining that, diabolical as apartheid had been, he wished to be sensitive in his dealings with the white population, and not to offend them by abolishing national symbols close to their hearts. But what stayed with me most from the interview was a brief encounter we both had with a white woman that revealed, more eloquently than words could, precisely how respectful he intended to remain towards the white population that colluded in the state’s oppression of him and his black compatriots for so long. Ten minutes into the interview, there was a knock on the door, and a middle-aged white lady entered the presidential office carrying a tray with tea and mineral water. The instant he saw her, Mandela interrupted himself in midsentence and leapt to his feet. With a broad smile, he asked her how she was, and then introduced me, whereupon I, too, stood up and shook hands with her. Mandela thanked her profusely for the tea and water and did not sit down again until she had left the room. That little incident was absolutely of a piece with the Mandela I got to know during the six years I worked as foreign correspondent in South Africa from 1989 to 1995, the epic years that included his release from prison and the transition from tyranny to democracy. I saw him up close in countless public events, had many brief chats with him, interviewed him half a dozen times and, for a book and a number of film documentaries, I spoke to most of the people who had known him best. What I saw was what the tea lady saw that morning of our interview: A man who combined majesty of bearing with respect for others; grandeur with folksy charm. The fascinating thing here was that he extended such courtesy to someone who, as I later discovered, had been in the employment of previous white apartheid presidents. Further inquiry some years later for my book revealed that Mandela had asked all the white staff at the presidency to stay on when he took power; that all did stay, wooed by his charm; and all came to like and admire him far more than any of their white bosses. One large man, the chief of protocol, had worked in the job 13 years prior to Mandela’s arrival. He wept as he recalled Mandela’s many acts of kindness towards him. I could almost write another book cataloging anecdotes of his unfailing considerateness towards his former enemies. Towards all, save one. And it is the story of his relationship with this person that calls into slight question the observation we are sure to hear again and again from commentators in these days following his death, about how wondrously lacking in bitterness he was after spending 27 years in jail. It is one of the oldest cliches around. Which does not mean it isn’t true. It is, largely. Mostly. But not entirely. Mandela, as he was at pains to point out to those who strove to idolize him, was not a saint. He was a man and, as such, prey to normal human weakness, none more natural than harboring some portion of resentment towards those who imprisoned him and kept his black compatriots locked for nearly half a century in the vast prison of apartheid. For the most part he kept such feelings under control or, at any rate, extremely well-hidden. It was an entirely political calculation on his part. It would not have been wise to have emerged from jail bristling with ill will towards the white minority who had kept all power to themselves — not just since the foundation of the apartheid system of legal racial discrimination in 1948, but since the arrival of the first white settlers on the southern tip of Africa in 1652. To give his emotions free rein would have meant endangering his strategy of ending apartheid and establishing democracy in South Africa by the only means he believed could possibly work: by dialogue and racial reconciliation. The funny thing — the flawed, human thing — was that the one visible object of whatever small measure of resentment Mandela retained was the man who set him free, the man with whom he negotiated apartheid’s end: South Africa’s last white president, F.W. de Klerk. Mandela had, at best, mixed feeling towards de Klerk. The rational part of his mind acknowledged the value of de Klerk’s role; but his instincts rebelled against his partner — or at any rate, his most necessary accomplice — in the complicated political process that led South Africa from tyranny to democracy. He didn’t really like de Klerk. He saw him as a smart enough, but ultimately slippery, small-minded lawyer who lacked the largeness of soul to grasp the depth of the iniquity to which he, as a long-standing servant of the apartheid system, had submitted South Africa’s black majority. This was why, when he learned he and de Klerk had received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly in 1993, he was quietly outraged, confessing the extent of his distress only to his closest friends. One of these friends was George Bizos, a white man who had been one of his lawyers at the trial in 1964, at the conclusion of which he was condemned to life in prison. I interviewed Bizos for a book I wrote about Mandela, and what he told me was that Mandela felt not only that it was wrong that a politician who had dedicated the greater part of his life to upholding apartheid should receive the Nobel Prize, but also that it should have been awarded to him and to the entirety of the liberation organization he represented: the African National Congress. But the more interesting, and mightily surprising, thing Bizos told me was that the Mandela mask, always so tightly worn, did actually slip once, and in public. What was more, when he and de Klerk went to Oslo, where the Nobel ceremony was held. It was not a televised event; there were apparently no journalists present. But he had a significant-sized audience before him. The sequence of events, as Bizos, who accompanied Mandela to Oslo, told it, was this. When de Klerk’s turn came to give his Nobel acceptance speech, Mandela expected him to make some acknowledgement of apartheid’s cruelties and injustices, to make some sort of apology for white South Africa’s past sins. De Klerk did not. Instead he limited himself to saying that “mistakes” had been made on all sides. Bizos recalled looking at Mandela and seeing him shake his head. That same evening Mandela and de Klerk attended an event at Oslo Cathedral. The ceremony began with a rendition of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," the old, solemn and powerfully moving anthem of black protest and liberation. As the song was being sung, Mandela glanced across at de Klerk and saw him chatting distractedly with his wife. Later that same night, at a dinner hosted by the prime minister of Norway before 150 guests, Mandela’s patience finally snapped. Wildly out of character, and entirely out of tune with the day’s celebratory mood, he let rip against apartheid, a system — the point was lost on no one in the room — with which his fellow Nobel laureate had colluded most of his life. Bizos said he was aghast to hear such venom spill from his old friend’s lips. “He gave the most horrible detail of what happened to prisoners on Robben Island,” said Bizos, referring to the Alcatraz on the southern Atlantic where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in jail. He told a story, Bizos recalled, of prison warders on the island “burying a man in the sand up to his head and urinating on him. ... He told it as an example of the inhumanity there had been in this system, though he did actually stop short of saying ‘Look, here are the people who represented that system.’ ” The message, though, was as loud and clear, and as deliberately insulting, as it was astonishing to those present, coming as it had from the man feted as the chief living practitioner on Earth of the virtues of forgiveness and reconciliation. It astonished me, too, when I heard the story from Bizos. I interviewed Mandela one-on-one half a dozen times, I had numerous brief chats with him, I watched him give any number of speeches and press conferences and in the course of writing a book about him and more articles than I can remember, as well as working on three film documentaries about his life, I have spoken at length to most of the people who knew him best. Never once did I see him express any rancor towards anybody. Except de Klerk. Apart from that story in Oslo, I did see him once in 1993 launch into a tirade against de Klerk, not a bitter one but a furious one at his perceived double-dealing in negotiations. And I did hear stories of the disdain Mandela felt for him. With every other political enemy, or former enemy, that Mandela encountered, he was, I repeat, unfailingly courteous and respectful. Apart from those who worked for him directly in the presidential offices, I have spoken to the former head of the apartheid intelligence service, the former minister of justice, a former general who planned for some months to lead a terrorist movement of the far right against Mandela’s democratic enterprise. All three ended up adoring him, describing him as they might a cherished relative. The former intelligence chief referred to him not as “Mandela,” but as “the old man,” as if he were talking about his own father. Maybe Mandela expected more of de Klerk, his partner in peacemaking. Maybe he saw a little too much of him and grew irritated by his lack of empathy for the predicament of black South Africans. Maybe he saw that de Klerk, clever and politically well-intentioned as he might have been, lacked greatness of heart. Or maybe he exhibited a certain capriciousness towards the man who, after all, did cede power to him without a fight. Otherwise, how does one explain the regard Mandela always expressed for de Klerk’s predecessor as president of South Africa, the far more ogrish and repressive P.W. Botha? A lot of Mandela’s closest allies never understood why he held Botha in more esteem than the manifestly more harmless de Klerk. In that mystery, or inconsistency, or downright irrationality, we glimpse Mandela’s humanity, as we do even more forcefully when we reflect on that extraordinary outburst in Oslo. What this does is remind us that Mandela was not a Tibetan mystic, or a supernatural being, or a saint, but a flawed individual as prone to irrational behavior or to anger and impatience as the rest of us. To acknowledge that, yes, indeed, some atoms of bitterness did remain lodged in his heart is not to diminish his person or his achievement. The fact that he did have to battle to conquer his own demons is further evidence of the supreme quality of leadership he displayed, of the sacrifices he made and the self-control he exercised in pursuit of the prize he pursued all his life: democracy and justice in a country where black and white people could live as equals, in peace. Nelson Mandela said of writer John Carlin when he left the country: “The way in which you wrote and the way in which you carried out your task in this country was absolutely magnificent … absolutely inspiring. You have been very courageous.”

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died at age 95 of complications from a recurring lung infection.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died at age 95 of complications from a recurring lung infection. Related Stories Nelson Mandela, from apartheid fighter to president and unifier Reuters Nelson Mandela, 20th century colossus, dies at 95 Associated Press South Africa, world mourn 'giant for justice' Mandela Reuters Timeline: Life and times of Nelson Mandela Reuters Nelson Mandela, 'The Epicenter of Our Time,' Has Died The Atlantic Wire The anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate was a beloved figure around the world, a symbol of reconciliation from a country with a brutal history of racism. Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after nearly 30 years for plotting to overthrow South Africa's apartheid government. In 1994, in a historic election, he became the nation's first black leader. Mandela stepped down in 1999 after a single term and retired from political and public life. History Born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in Transkei, South Africa, on July 18, 1918, he was one of the world's most revered statesmen and revolutionaries who led the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. A qualified lawyer from the University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela served as the president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. His political career started in 1944 when he joined the African National Congress (ANC), and he participated in the resistance against the then government¹s apartheid policy in 1948. In June 1961, the ANC executive approved his idea of using violent tactics and encouraged members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign. Shortly after, he founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and was named its leader. South African Nelson Mandela's Legacy Play video South African Nelson Mandela's Legacy In 1962, he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment. In 1963, Mandela was brought to stand trial along with many fellow members of Umkhonto we Sizwe for conspiring against the government and plotting to overthrow it by the use of violence. Sentenced to life in prison On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. His statement from the dock at the opening of the defense trial became extremely popular. He closed his statement with: "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the 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 live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of those years at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known across the world as the most significant black leader in South Africa. Nelson Mandela: first ever interview Play video Nelson Mandela: first ever interview He became a prominent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gained momentum in South Africa and across the world. On the island, he and other prisoners were subjected to hard labor in a lime quarry. Racial discrimination was rampant, and prisoners were segregated by race with the black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. Mandela has written about how he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. Free and fair In February 1985, President P.W. Botha offered Mandela his freedom on condition that he unconditionally reject violence as a political weapon, but Mandela rejected the proposal. He made his sentiment known through a letter he released via his daughter. "What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts," he wrote. In 1988, Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison and would remain there until his release. Throughout his imprisonment, pressure mounted on the South African government to release him. The slogan "Free Nelson Mandela" became the new battle cry of the anti-apartheid campaigners. Finally, Mandela was released on Feb. 11, 1990, in an event streamed live across the world. After his release, Mandela returned to his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, the first national conference of the ANC was held inside South Africa since the organization had been banned in 1960. View gallery Nelson Mandela's memorable moments Nelson Mandela at the law office he opened with his colleague, Oliver Tambo in Johannesburg, South A … President Mandela Mandela was elected president of the ANC, while his friend Oliver Tambo became the organization's national chairperson. Mandela's leadership and his work, as well as his relationship with then President F.W. de Klerk, were recognized when they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. South Africa's first multiracial elections, held on April 27, 1994, saw the ANC storm in with a majority of 62 percent of the votes, and Mandela was inaugurated in May 1994 as the country's first black president. As president from May 1994 until June 1999, Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his advocacy of national and international reconciliation. Honors and personal life Mandela received many national international honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush. In July 2004, the city of Johannesburg bestowed its highest honor by granting Mandela the freedom of the city at a ceremony in Orlando, Soweto. View gallery Nelson Mandela: From rock stars to royalty South African State President Frederik Willem de Klerk, left, and Deputy President of the African Na … In 1990, he received the Bharat Ratna Award from the government of India and also received the last ever Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union. In 1992, he was awarded the Ataturk Peace Award by Turkey. He refused the award citing human rights violations committed by Turkey at the time, but later accepted the award in 1999. Also in 1992, he received the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civil service award of Pakistan. Mandela's autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom," was published in 1994. He had begun work on it secretly while in prison. Mandela and his wives Nelson Mandela's love life has seemingly run parallel to his political one — and can be divided up into three key eras. The young activist married his first wife, Evelyn Mase, in 1944. The couple, who had four children, divorced in 1958 — shortly before Mandela became an outlaw with the banning of the ANC. Mandela's second marriage — and probably his most famous — largely coincided with the time he spent locked up at the hands of the apartheid regime. In 1958 he walked down the aisle with Winnie Madikizela, who stood by his side and actively campaigned to free him from prison. Winnie became a powerful figure in her own right while Mandela was imprisoned, but a series of scandals involving her led to the couple's estrangement in 1992, her dismissal from his cabinet in 1995, and their official divorce in 1996. The couple had two children. Winnie Mandela was also later convicted of kidnapping. His third marriage, to Graca Machel — the widow of former Mozambique President Samora Machel — came on his 80th birthday as entered his role of world statesman. Yahoo Australia contributed to this report.

President Barack Obama paid somber tribute to Nelson Mandela Thursday, celebrating the late South African leader’s “fierce dignity and unbending will” and unquenchable thirst for justice. “For now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived — a man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice,” Obama said in the White House briefing room. “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,” Obama said. “He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the ages.” Mandela, who was 95, died from complications of a recurring lung infection. "His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings — and countries — can change for the better," Obama said. The president also recalled the personal connection he felt to Mandela, and the antiapartheid campaign that fueled the young American's political passions. "I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life. My very first political action — the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics — was a protest against apartheid. I would study his words and his writings," Obama said. "The day he was released from prison it gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they're guided by their hopes and not by their fears. And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set. And so long as I live, I will do what I can to learn from him." In his 1995 autobiographical “Dreams From My Father,” Obama had described Mandela as something of an idealized father-figure — inspiring him and filling the void of his absent Kenya-born parent. "It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela," he wrote. The two men met in 2005, when Mandela visited Washington,

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Nelson Mandela, revered statesman and anti-apartheid leader, dies at 95 By Yahoo News 2 hours ago