Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, an icon who led the country out of apartheid after spending 27 years in prison, passed away at the age of 95, as South African President Jacob Zuma announced today, Nov. 5. Twitter is currently flooded with grief and tributes from the general public and celebrities alike.
"He is now resting. He is now at peace," Zuma said during his late-night address. "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."
"There is a party in heaven. Angels are celebrating. The one and only #NelsonMandela has arrived. RIP," wrote Ricky Martin.
"Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again," Kris Jenner tweeted, quoting Mandela.
Eva Longoria wrote, "Today the world lost one it's greatest leaders. Rest in peace Mandela...," Samuel L. Jackson tweeted, "Never met a better person in my life than Nelson Mandela. My sympathy to his family & his country," and Anderson Cooper tweeted, "Mandela is gone. There is no one else like him."
Mandela, who will have a state funeral, battled a lung infection in recent months which led to numerous hospitalizations, CNN reports. He died peacefully in his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton. His daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, told SABC that even from his deathbed, her father was still "teaching us lessons - lessons in patience, in love, lessons of tolerance," the Mirror reports.
I'm hearing about Nelson Mandela's death while on African soil in Oran, Algeria. Sending prayers to Mandela's family. pic.twitter.com/i5ONBP9Xez
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) December 5, 2013
