Nelson Mandela's Final Journey as world mourns death of an icon

Nelson Mandela started his final journey today as his body was taken from his home in a coffin draped in the South African flag he loved so ardently as it was announced his funeral will be on Sunday, December 15. 

Mourners have gathered to dance and sing songs of freedom outside his home as the world celebrated the life of the adored statesman who brought peace and equality to his country and died last night aged 95.

He passed away at home in Johannesburg at 8.50pm yesterday and his body was moved to a military hospital in Pretoria this morning, where he is under armed guard.

His beloved country has started ten days of mourning, with flags flying at half mast for 'Madiba' or 'Tata' as he was devotedly called.

Imprisoned for 27 years before becoming South Africa's first black president, his courage in the face of persecution made him the most potent symbol of the struggle against apartheid, and an inspiration to millions in his country and billions beyond.

 

South African president Jacob Zuma announced this afternoon Nelson Mandela’s state funeral will be held in Quino, the village where he grew up, and is likely to be attended by world leaders including David Cameron and Barack Obama.

Journey: The Flag covered coffin carrying the body of former South African President Nelson Mandela is taken from his home in Johannesburg, South Africa, this morning as his beloved country began eight days of mourning

A world mourns his passing: Nelson Mandela, whose courage in the face of persecution made him the most potent symbol of the struggle against apartheid and inspired millions in his own country and around the world, died last night aged 95

Mr Mandela passed away at home after a long battle against illness. He was 95. He is pictured here accompanied by his wife Winnie walking out of Victor Verster Prison near Cape Town, a free man after 27 years of imprisonment

Final picture: Nelson Mandela seated next to current South African president Jacob Zuma at his home in April this year as he struggled with ill health

During ten days of mourning, the first major event will be on December 10, where a memorial service will be held at the Johannesburg soccer stadium that hosted the 2010 World Cup final, and holds 94,000 people.

Between December 11 and December 13 his embalmed body will lie in state in a glass-fronted coffin at the Union Buildings in Pretoria , where he was inaugurated as president on May 10, 1994.

 

The Queen has said this morning she is 'deeply saddened' to learn of Nelson Mandela's death, saying the former South African president 'worked tirelessly for the good of his country'.

SOUTH AFRICA'S TEN DAYS OF MOURNING AND THE GRANDEST FUNERAL AFRICA HAS EVER SEEN

Elaborate funeral plans have been set in motion in South Africa following the death of the country’s revered first black president Nelson Mandela.

Ten days of mourning will culminate in an unparalleled event in South Africa’s history on Sunday, December 15.

South African President Jacob Zuma ordered the nation's flags to be flown at half-mast beginning Friday and to remain that way until after Mandela's funeral, which is expected to be held next Saturday.

In the coming days it is believed his body will be embalmed.

For the three days the anti-apartheid hero's body will lie in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he was inaugurated as president on May 10, 1994.

On day nine, plans have been made for a military aircraft to fly Mr Mandela to Mthatha, the main town in the South African province of Eastern Cape.

His casket will then be taken by the military on a gun carriage to Qunu, his home village.

Later, ANC leaders, local chiefs and Mandela's family are expected to gather for a private night vigil.

On the final day, Mandela will finally be laid to rest in the grounds of his family home in Qunu, where thousands of people, including heads of state will gather for the state funeral.

Buckingham Palace will fly the Union Flag at half staff today in his honour when Her Majesty leaves for Windsor Castle later.

'The Queen was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Nelson Mandela last night. His legacy is the peaceful South Africa we see today,' Buckingham Palace said this morning.

'Her Majesty remembers with great warmth her meetings with Mr Mandela and sends her sincere condolences to his family and the people of South Africa at this very sad time.'

Last night Mandela's death was announced in South Africa as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat down to watch the screening of Long Walk To Freedom, the movie based on his autobiography. They were told in the auditorium in Leicester Square.

Nelson Mandela's daughter Zindzi Mandela also learnt of her father's death while watching the royal premiere.

Screams rang out in the auditorium as the news was broken to her, although the majority of fellow audience members were not informed until after the film. 

The Duke of Cambridge, with Kate beside him, said: 'It was extremely sad and tragic news. We were just reminded of what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was and my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family right now.'

The Prince of Wales also paid tribute to the former South African leader.

He said: 'Mr Mandela was the embodiment of courage and reconciliation. He was also a man of great humour and had a real zest for life.

'With his passing, there will be an immense void not only in his family's lives, but also in those of all South Africans and the many others whose lives have been changed through his fight for peace, justice and freedom.

'The world has lost an inspired leader and a great man. My family and I are profoundly saddened and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.'  

His death was announced in a televised address broadcast, in which South African president Jacob Zuma said: ‘Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.

‘What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.’

Mr Mandela passed away at home after a long battle against illness. He was 95.

Mr Zuma said the former president would be accorded a State funeral and flags throughout South Africa would fly at half-mast until it was over.

Mr Mandela’s efforts to heal his country after its long history of division made him one of the world’s most loved leaders, viewed by millions of Africans as a secular saint. 

He was known in South Africa as ‘Madiba’, his clan name, which means ‘grandfather’.

In a church service in Cape Town, retired archbishop Desmond Tutu and fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate said Mandela would want South Africans themselves to be his 'memorial' by adhering to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied. 

'All of us here in many ways amazed the world, a world that was expecting us to be devastated by a racial conflagration,' Tutu said, recalling how Mandela helped unite South Africa as it dismantled apartheid, the cruel system of white minority rule, and prepared for all-race elections in 1994. In those elections, the anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison, became South Africa's first black president. 

'God, thank you for the gift of Madiba,' said Tutu in his closing his prayer, using Mandela's clan name.