World mourns Nelson Mandela

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World mourns Nelson Mandela

In a symbol befitting a nation in mourning, dark gray clouds swept over Johannesburg on Friday as people from around the world paid their respects. FULL STORY | ZAKARIA: SOUTH AFRICA'S GEORGE WASHINGTON | LONDON'S ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT

Nelson Mandela death: World mourns South Africa's first black president

By Arwa Damon and Faith Karimi, CNN

December 6, 2013 -- Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT)

Mourners gather outside former South African President Nelson Mandela's Johannesburg home on Friday, December 6. Mandela, the revered statesman who emerged from prison to lead South Africa out of its dark days of apartheid, died on Thursday, December 5. He was 95.

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World reacts to Mandela's death

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Mandela dies Thursday at age 95
Children use rocks to spell out "We love you Mandela" on the grass near his home
"It's sad, but what can we do?" one resident asks. "Let him rest in peace."

Send us your stories, memories and photographs of the Nobel Peace prize winner and former South African president.

Johannesburg, South Africa (CNN) -- South Africans mourned Friday the death of the man who led the fight to end the system of apartheid here and then went on to lead the country itself.

"We will always love Madiba for teaching us that it is possible to overcome hatred and anger in order to build a new nation and a new society," President Jacob Zuma told reporters Friday, using the affectionate clan name shared by his countrymen for Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95.

He will be buried in a state funeral on Sunday, December 15, in his ancestral hometown of Qunu in the Eastern Cape province in a state funeral, Zuma said.

Sunday will be a "national day of prayer and reflection," in which people throughout the nation will gather in places of worship to conduct "prayer services and meditation reflecting on the life" of Mandela, Zuma said.

The official memorial service will be held Tuesday in First National Bank Stadium in Johannesburg.

From Wednesday through next Friday, his body will lie in state at the seat of government in Pretoria, where he served as president, Zuma said, adding, "Long live Madiba!"

Zuma had announced the death late Thursday in a nationally televised address. "Our nation has lost its greatest son, our people have lost a father," he said. "Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss."

On the grass near Mandela's home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, children spelled out with rocks "We love you Mandela."

Others wept as they lit candles; still others danced and sang in celebration of a life well lived.

His death was felt around the world. Nearly 8,000 miles north of Johannesburg, in Paris, leaders from 53 African countries attending a summit on peace and security observed a minute of silence for Mandela on Friday.

In recent years, the nation's first black president had battled health issues that included multiple hospitalizations for treatment of a recurring lung infection.

Many South Africans didn't get the news until Friday morning.

"I woke up and was shocked when I saw it on television," said Wilson Mudau, a cabdriver in Johannesburg. "It's sad, but what can we do? Let him rest in peace. It's time ... Madiba has worked so hard to unite us."

In Soweto township, where Mandela lived before he was imprisoned for 27 years, giant posters of his face adorned streets. Residents surrounded his former red brick house on a busy street and sang songs of freedom.

Memorials popped up from Los Angeles to Chicago, where mourners placed flowers and candles in front of murals bearing his likeness. In Washington, crowds gathered in front of the South African Embassy.

In Adelaide, Australia, cricket fans observed a moment of silence.

"I admired Mandela (because) he had not poisoned his heart," said Leo Udtohan of Bohol, Philippines. "He learned to forgive despite the horror he experienced while in prison."

At New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem, which Mandela had visited in 1990, the marquee bore a tribute. "In memory of Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013," it said. "He changed our world."

Man of complexities

Mandela helped South Africa break the practice of racial segregation and do away with white minority rule.

Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid, he was freed in 1990 and quickly set about working to unite the nation through forgiveness and reconciliation.

"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison," Mandela said.

His rejection of vengeance led him to assume roles that led from freedom fighter to prisoner to a world symbol of the struggle against racial oppression.

And, four years after he left prison, he became the nation's first black president, cementing his place in the consciousness of the nation and the world.

"I'm just glad he finally found his place of rest," said Omekongo Dibinga of Washington. "From the family drama to his health problems, it just seemed like he could never get a break in his later years. Now I hope be can finally rest, but he'll probably still be watching down on us in frustration."

'We all knew he'd leave us at some point'

His recent bouts of illness had prepared many South Africans for Thursday's announcement. "We all knew he'd leave us at some point," said Tony Karuiru, a Johannesburg resident. "But we were hoping that he would be with us during the festive season. It's the holidays, I just wish God would have given him a few more days with us as well."

Thomas Rabodiba said that, though he had expected Mandela's death, he was having a hard time accepting it.

"At first, when I heard he died, I thought it was the usual rumors we get all the time," he said. "After I heard the president's announcement later that the old man has departed, then I believed that he's really gone."

His legacy

Mandela will be remembered for many things, but his message of forgiveness and reconciliation may resonate the most.

"Mandela's biggest legacy ... was his remarkable lack of bitterness and the way he did not only talk about reconciliation, but he made reconciliation happen in South Africa," said F.W. de Klerk, South Africa's last white president and Mandela's predecessor.

His casket will lie in state for several days in Pretoria. Next week, it will be flown to his ancestral hometown of Qunu for a state funeral and burial, sources said.

Leaders react

Until that funeral, Zuma has ordered flags around South Africa to be flown at half-staff.

"He is now resting. He is now at peace," Zuma said late Thursday.

The U.S. government and Buckingham Palace also lowered their flags to half-staff.

"Nelson Mandela achieved more than could be expected of any man," President Barack Obama said Thursday. "We have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us -- he belongs to the ages."

In recent years, plans for a fitting farewell were hammered out among the government, the military and his family. Events over the next 10 days will culminate in a state funeral to be broadcast worldwide and a private farewell for those closest to him.

READ: Nelson Mandela: Man of many handshakes

READ: Mandela's words and deeds inspire

CNN's Arwa Damon reported from South Africa, and Faith Karimi and Tom Watkins reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Greg Botelho, Nicole Saidi, Catherine E. Shoichet, Robyn Curnow, Susannah Palk and Max Foster contributed to this report.

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