How People Describe Mandela

The death of Nelson Mandela, long anticipated and yet long dreaded, jolted a nation that made a political prisoner South Africa's first black president.Crowds gathered around Mr. Mandela's home here, singing songs and lighting candles. They flocked to a square bearing his name. And they checked their phones for the latest news on the passing of a leader South Africans called the father of their democracy.

Mr. Mandela spent 27 years in prison fighting for freedom and equality of people of color. He entered prison an angry militant determined to topple apartheid through a sabotage campaign. He emerged a gray-haired statesmen determined to win power peacefully through the radical message of reconciliation and forgiveness.

On Thursday evening, South Africans showed their grief from their loss. 

President Jacob Zuma  "What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves,"  

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

 described Mr. Mandela as a figure who "transcended race and class in his personal actions, through his warmth and through his willingness to listen and to empathize with others. And he restored others' faith in Africa and Africans." 

Former President Thabo Mbeki, - Mandela's Successor Said

  "Mandela's departure demands of those of us who remain, South Africans and all Africans on the rest of our continent, that we commit ourselves selflessly to address the many challenges we face".

 F.W. de Klerk, - Another former president who shared Nobel Peace Price With Mandela for dismantling the oppressive apartheid system,praised his counterpart for his contribution "to the establishment of our constitutional democracy but also to the cause of national reconciliation and nation building." 

Helen Zille, Western Cape premier and leader of the Democratic Alliance, the country's biggest opposition party. 

 "We all belong to the South African family," said"We owe that sense of belonging to Madiba," she added, referring to Mr. Mandela's clan name.

Sibusiso Myaka and Ethel Mgwenya - Table Waiters in a resturant close to mandela's home had this to say "We got our freedom because of him. Nelson Mandela was our hero," Mr. Myaka said. "Not just South Africa, he was a hero for the whole world."

Cindy Mallugu, a 36-year-old event planner from the Soweto township where Mr. Mandela lived for years, had just finished dinner at a restaurant on Nelson Mandela Square in Johannesburg's business district when she heard of the former president's death. Next to her loomed a 20-foot bronze statue of Mr. Mandela, smiling.

"Even here—I couldn't come here, I couldn't eat here at a restaurant with whites before he was president. So much changed through him," she said.

Yet Tumi Mabeba, a 24-year-old student who was also dining on the square when she learned of Mr. Mandela's death, said the ANC had fallen short of Mr. Mandela's vision. "It's not doing what it promised for the country. It's time for change. Again."

Crowds outside Mr. Mandela's house sang the country's national anthem in both Zulu and Afrikaans. As the initial shock ebbed, people snapped photos and cheered Mandela. A couple from Cameroon stood wrapped in flags holding a burning candle, while young people danced. 

Source: WSJ