S. Africans Gather Outside Mandela’s Johannesburg Home
People light a candle for former president Nelson Mandela on hearing of his death outside his home in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dec. 5, 2013.
JOHANNESBURG —
As news broke that the first leader of post-apartheid South Africa had died, Nelson Mandela's countrymen began to gather outside his home in a leafy suburb of Johannesburg.
The streets were blocked off around Nelson Mandela's home in the moments after his death was announced on national television and radio. Mourners from all corners of Johannesburg and from surrounding cities began streaming in, some carrying flowers, South African flags and candles.
Outside of his home, several hundred people were gathered around 1 a.m., chanting his name and singing songs in his memory.
Sikhumbuzo Vilane drove an hour to come to Mandela's Houghton home as soon as he heard the news.
"I was shocked and very, very sad…He meant everything to me and I hope to every South African," he said.
Vilane says Mandela's election as president in 1994, after his release from prison, was life altering.
"It was like new hope, a new day for South Africa. It was like a country being reborn....Whatever I am today," he said. "Most of what I have today, most of what I've achieved. Most of it I could attribute to Mandela's fight for freedom."
Mourners continued gathering through the night outside the Mandela home. Helicopters flew overhead and police directed traffic for blocks around the house.
Reaction to the Death of Nelson Mandela
1/13People sing and dance during a gathering of mourners on Vilakazi Street in Soweto, Dec. 6, 2013.
2/13A young girl with a poster of Nelson Mandela marches with others to celebrate his life, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, Dec. 6, 2013.
3/13Township residents march to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, Dec. 6, 2013.
4/13A woman cries as she holds a candle and a flower outside former South African President Nelson Mandela's house in Houghton, Dec. 5, 2013a
5/13A girl holds a South African national flag as people mourn the death of Nelson Mandela outside Cape Town City Hall, Dec. 6, 2013.
6/13Rian Venter holds purple sachets, syringes and a plastic sheath that moments ago contained a lactate solution used by a doctor giving intravenous relief to a patient with a life-threatening liver condition at West Gauteng Hospice. (VOA / D. Taylor)
7/13Newspapers with pictures of Nelson Mandela on the front page on sale in London, Dec. 6, 2013.
8/13Schoolchildren hold candles and portraits of Nelson Mandela during a prayer ceremony at a school in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, Dec. 6, 2013.
9/13A woman with a banner pays tribute to Nelson Mandela outside the South African High Commission in London, Dec. 6, 2013.
10/13People release paper lanterns after lighting them outside Madiba, a restaurant named in honor of Nelson Mandela, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Dec. 5, 2013.
11/13Dexter Newcomb begins cleanup at his house in Scituate, Massachusetts the day after a winter storm left his neighborhood coated in frozen sea spray, snow and sand.
12/13A man holds candles in front of a mural of former South African President Nelson Mandela and U.S. President Barack Obama in New York, Dec. 5, 2013.
13/13Pedestrians pass beneath the Apollo Theater marquee commemorating the life of South African leader Nelson Mandela in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Dec. 5, 2013.
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Snkosina Nkosi, a cab driver, lives nearby. He stopped by to see if what he'd heard was true.
"When I heard about his health, I was at work. I heard the announcement on the radio." he said. "I just let me rush before I arrange my house, and see by my own eyes whether it's true that our icon has passed away, so I know the truth."
Nkosi says he owes his freedom to the late anti-apartheid leader.
"Before Mandela became president, it was hard for people to go wherever they wanted to go," he said. "Since Mandela became president. We've got the freedom to go wherever we want to go. We go just because of Mandela."
South African singer Mercy Pakela walked down the street to pay her respects to her neighbor and friend. Pakela, who had met Mandela several times, said it is a big loss for the country, but Mandela's work is done, referencing the name of his autobiography.
"He's walked the long walk to freedom, but he is free now and he's happy and he's peaceful wherever he is because he's done his work," she said.
Flags will be flown at half staff Friday, as the country mourns the loss of its beloved former president.
