Mandela had been increasingly frail and in poor health in recent years and had been in hospital several times in the last year. He had a history of lung problems dating back to his years in prison, when he contracted tuberculosis.
Since leaving hospital after three weeks’ treatment in December, Mandela – often referred to in South Africa by his clan name Madiba – had been receiving medical care at his home in an affluent Johannesburg suburb. He had spent most of 2012 in Qunu, the village where he grew up in the poor province of Eastern Cape.
Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment by South Africa's former white-minority regime in 1964 for conspiring to overthrow the government before being released in 1990 and elected as the country's first democratic president in 1994.
What a great man. May Africans and indeed the whole world learn a thing or two from this great human being. R.I.P Madiba!
thy soul should rest in peace,he has done a wonderful job to the whole world. i salute the job well done..
Iy is remarkable how one man can be mourned by the world He was not as selfish as some presidents we know very well. A true African patriot. R.I.P Madiba the world has learnt so many things from you especially humbleness ans forgiveness.