President Jacob Zuma made the announcement shortly before midnight on 5 December.
In a live broadcast from the Union Buildings, Jacob Zuma said the former statesman passed away peacefully in the company of his family at his Houghton home at 8.50pm.
“Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss,” Zuma said.
“The nation’s thoughts were with Madiba’s wife Graca Machel, his former wife Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, his children, his grandchildren, his great grand-children and the entire family as well as his
friends, comrades and colleagues.”
All flags in the country will fly at half-mast on 6 December and remain lowered until after Mandela’s funeral.
“Our thoughts are with the South African people who today mourn the loss of the one person who, more than any other, came to embody their sense of a common nationhood,” said Zuma.
“Let us express, each in our own way, the deep gratitude we feel for a life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of humanity. This is indeed the moment of our deepest
sorrow. Yet it must also be the moment of our greatest determination.”
Zuma said that Madiba had brought us together, and it is together that we bid him farewell.
Messages from world leaders began pouring in after the announcement was made.
US president Barack Obama said, “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.”
“I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him,” he added.
Obama, who is expected to attend Mandela’s state funeral, ordered the flags at the White House and public buildings to be lowered to half-mast.
Meanwhile, as South Africans woke to news of Mandela’s death, crowds flocked to his Houghton home on 6 December- holding candles and flags while singing struggle songs.
Social media was abuzz following the news of the former statesman’s death.
@MorganLPotter tweeted: “Today the World lost one of its greatest men. #RIP NelsonMandela, you were a truly remarkable man and will be sorely missed.”
@ZOELIFE1: “RIPNelsonMandela …thank you for being an example and a beacon of hope not only for Africa but for the world… #SouthAfricaunite.”
Mandela had been largely out of the public eye since the 2010 Soccer World Cup and had been fighting several bouts of lung infection since 2011.
Mandela had been admitted to hospital on June 8 with a recurring lung infection.
He was discharged on September 1 and was being treated at his home.
