Nelson Mandela death: Gray day in South Africa as news spread
Soweto, South Africa (CNN) -- In a symbol befitting a nation in mourning, a dark gray cloud swept over Johannesburg on Friday as news spread that international icon Nelson Mandela is dead.
Under overcast skies that
threatened rain any minute, South Africans draped in flags and images
of Mandela gathered on the streets to sing and dance.
Others wept as they lit candles near his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton.
Children spelled out "we love you Mandela" on the grass using rocks. Nearby, stuffed animals and flowers sat in a heap.
In Soweto township, where
Mandela lived before he was thrown into prison for 27 years, giant
posters of his face adorned walls. Residents surrounded his former red
brick house on the busy street and crooned freedom songs.
Mandela, 95, died
Thursday. The former president battled health issues in recent years,
including a recurring lung infection that led to numerous
hospitalizations.
"It was a surprise. I was
asleep so I didn't know when President (Jacob) Zuma announced his
death," said Wilson Mudau, a cab driver in Johannesburg. "I woke up and
was shocked when I saw it on television. It's sad, but what can we do.
Let him rest in peace. It's time ... Madiba has worked so hard to unite
us."
South Africans affectionately refer to him as Madiba, his clan name.
Man of complexities
Mandela helped South Africa break the shackles of racial segregation and do away with white minority rule.
Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid, he emerged determined to unite the nation.
Instead of anger and bitterness at the white government that imprisoned him, he chose forgiveness and reconciliation.
"As I walked out the
door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't
leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison," Mandela
said after he was freed in 1990.
His call to avoid
vengeance inspired the world. It also set him on a path of evolving
roles, from freedom fighter, to prisoner, to South Africa's symbol of
the struggle against racial oppression.
But one role remained
dominant: father of modern South Africa. And four years after he left
prison, he became the nation's first black president, cementing his
place in the consciousness of the nation and the world.
But the recent bouts of illnesses prepared many for the worst.
"We all knew he'd leave
at some point," said Tony Karuiru, a Johannesburg resident. "But we were
hoping that he would be with us during the festive season. It's the
holidays, we're all expecting bonus. I just wish God would have given
him a bonus of a few more days as well. "
Thomas Rabodiba, 38,
said even though Mandela's death was expected after so many years of
illness, he's having a hard time accepting it.
"I'm so sad. I couldn't
believe the rumors that he was no more," he said. "There have always
been rumors of him dying, and I thought it was the same thing. After I
heard the president announcement that the old man has departed, I
started believing he's gone."
Mandela will be remembered for many things, but his message of forgiveness and reconciliation will supersede.
"Mandela's biggest
legacy ... was his remarkable lack of bitterness and the way he did not
only talk about reconciliation, but he made reconciliation happen in
South Africa," said F.W. de Klerk, South Africa's last white president
before giving way to Mandela, the country's first black leader.
His casket will lie in
state for several days in Pretoria. Next week, it will be flown to his
ancestral hometown of Qunu for a state funeral and burial, sources said.
Until that funeral, Zuma
has ordered flags around South Africa to be flown at half-staff. The
United States and United Kingdom followed suit.
"We must pay tribute to Mandela, the best state leader of all time," said Zaid Paruk, 23.
Mandela last appeared in public during the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa.
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