Posts
Nelson
Mandela dies
Former
South African President Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95.
6
December, 2013
The
anti-apartheid hero was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on June 8
with a recurring lung infection.
He
was discharged on September 1 after nearly three months in hospital,
but had been in intensive medical care at his Johannesburg home.
Mr
Mandela - or Madiba, as he was affectionately known - was revered
among most of South Africa's 53 million people as the architect of
the 1994 transition to multi-racial democracy after three centuries
of white domination.
However
his fourth hospitalisation in six months had reinforced a realisation
that the father of the post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation"
would not be around for ever.
On
June 24 the government announced that Mr Mandela's health had
deteriorated from "serious but stable" to "critical",
causing a perceptible switch in the national mood, from prayers for
his recovery to preparations for a fond farewell.
In
the last few days hundreds of people have offered notes, flowers and
prayers for Nelson Mandela at a wall surrounding the Pretoria
hospital. Well-wishers' messages, bouquets and stuffed animals piled
up at the guarded boundary around the compound.
A
section of the beige brick wall was plastered with notes of
appreciation for his lifetime of struggle and sacrifice - including
27 years spent in apartheid jails - that helped lead to the country's
first all race election in 1994.
School
children, prayer groups, office workers together with comrades and
supporters who followed Mandela in the anti-apartheid fight have
trickled past the hospital day by day, passing a gauntlet of
journalists and camera crews camped outside the main gate.
Police
shut off streets to vehicle traffic near the hospital in the centre
of the capital.
Earlier
this week President Jacob Zuma cancelled a scheduled trip to
neighbouring Mozambique after visiting Mr Mandela in hospital.
And
AFP reported that an elder in Mr Mandela's clan had confirmed he was
on life support.
President
Zuma said doctors were doing their best to ensure the "recovery,
well-being and comfort" of South Africa's first black president
and he urged the people to keep Mr Mandela in their thoughts and
prayers.
The
public's last glimpse of Mandela was a brief clip aired by state
television in April during a visit to his home by Mr Zuma and other
leaders from the ruling African National Congress
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.