South Africa observes first death anniversary of Mandela

World Today

A banner featuring the late South African President Nelson Mandela is displayed at an auditorium where current South Africa President Jacob Zuma is delivering a speech in Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. South Africa observed the first anniversary of Mandela’s death around the country for the former statesman who died last year aged 94.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Friends and family of Nelson Mandela laid wreaths Friday at a bronze statue of the late statesman to mark the anniversary of his death.

Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel, recalled the former president’s last moments, saying he was at peace and surrounded by family. Mandela died last Dec. 5 after a long illness at the age of 95.

“My singular privilege was to be the shoulder he would lean on in the sunset of his life,” said Machel.

Photo gallery and previous coverage of Mandela’s death on CCTV.

 Timeline of major events in Nelson Mandela’s life

Mandela spent 27 years in prison under South Africa’s segregationist apartheid regime. As international awareness of South Africa’s racial discrimination grew, Mandela became one of the world’s most famous prisoners.

Mandela: Remembering his wisdom

After his release in 1990, Mandela went on to win the presidency in the country’s first all-race election in 1994. He was awarded the Nobel prize, along with former South African President Frederick W. de Klerk, for negotiating the end of white minority rule.

Mandela served a single five-year term and stepped down voluntarily to focus on charity work. Though apartheid is in the distant past, racial disparities and injustices remain. Machel said South Africans should continue to work for greater racial and ethnic reconciliation to honor Mandela’s legacy.

Ahmed Kathrada, Mandela’s close friend who was imprisoned with him for more than two decades, described him as “a peasant, an aristocrat. He was a democrat with a touch of the autocrat.” U.S. President Barack Obama and wife Michelle said that the world lost a leader one year ago “whose struggle and sacrifices inspired us to stand up for our fundamental principles, whose example reminded us of the enduring need for compassion, understanding, and reconciliation, and whose vision saw the promise of a better world.”

CCTV America’s Dan Williams reported this story from Johannesburg.

 

This report is compiled with inputs from the Associated Press.