BANGKOK, 6 December 2013 – South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela has passed away at the age of 95 after receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection.
Nelson Mandela, former South African President and human rights activist, battled health issues in recent years, including lung infection which killed him Thursday night.
The announcement was made by President Jacob Zuma who said South Africa had lost its “greatest son”. South African people have also gathered outside Mandela’s home in Johannesburg to mourn his death, while some were flying South African flags and wearing the shirts of the governing African National Congress, which Nelson Mandela once led.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the first leading human rights campaigner in South Africa. He spent 27 years as a prisoner in South Africa for opposing apartheid. He then became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and received more than 250 honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
