Transcript from World News Australia Radio
Nelson Mandela is dead.
One of the world's most revered statesmen, who led the struggle to replace the apartheid regime of South Africa with a multiracial democracy, has died at the age of 95.
Andrew Bolton looks back at Nelson Mandela's remarkable life.
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From prisoner to president.
After many years in jail, Nelson Mandela emerged to become South Africa's first black president.
His charisma, self-deprecating sense of humour, and lack of bitterness over his harsh treatment, as well as his amazing life story, partly explain his extraordinary global appeal.
Reconciliation was a mantra for Mr Mandela.
"We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans both black and white will be able to walk tall, a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world."
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 into the Madiba tribal clan in a small village in the eastern Cape.
In South Africa, he was often called by his clan name - "Madiba".
He was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school.
His birth name was Rohlihlahla.
He joined the African National Congress in 1943, first as an activist, then as the founder and president of the ANC Youth League.
He married his first wife, Evelyn, in 1944.
Mr Mandela qualified as a lawyer and in 1952 opened a law practice in Johannesburg with his partner, Oliver Tambo.
Together, they campaigned against the apartheid system of racial segregation devised by the all-white National Party which ran a white minority government.
In 1956, Mr Mandela was charged with high treason, along with 155 other activists, but the charges against him were dropped after a four-year trial.
Resistance to apartheid grew, mainly against the new Pass laws, which dictated where South Africa's black majority population were allowed to live and work.
Mr Mandela divorced his first wife in 1957 after having three children.
In 1958, he married Winnie Madikizela, who was later to take a very active role in the campaign to free him from prison.
The ANC was outlawed in 1960 and Mr Mandela went underground.
Tension with the apartheid regime grew, and soared to new heights in 1960 when 69 black people were shot dead by police in the Sharpeville massacre.
It was the end of peaceful resistance and Mr Mandela, already national vice-president of the ANC, launched a campaign of sabotage against South Africa's economy.
He was eventually arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government.
Conducting his own defence in the Rivonia courtroom, Mr Mandela used the stand to convey his beliefs about democracy, freedom and equality.
"It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
In the winter of 1964 he was sentenced to life in prison.
In the space of 12 months between 1968 and 1969, Mr Mandela's mother died and his eldest son was killed in a car crash but he was not allowed to attend the funerals.
He remained in prison on Robben Island just off the coast of Cape Town for 18 years before being transferred to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland in 1982.
As Mr Mandela and other ANC leaders languished in prison or lived in exile, the youths of South Africa's black townships helped sustain the resistance.
Hundreds were killed and thousands were injured before the schoolchildren's uprising was crushed in 1976.
In 1980, then-ANC leader in exile, Oliver Tambo, launched an international campaign to get Nelson Mandela freed.
The world community tightened the sanctions first imposed on apartheid South Africa in 1967.
The pressure produced results, and in 1990, President F-W de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and made this stunning announcement.
"I wish to put it plainly that the government has taken a firm decision to release Mr Mandela unconditionally. I am serious about bringing this matter to finality without delay."
Mr Mandela was released from prison in February 1990 and made his first speech in Cape Town in front of huge crowds.
"Friends, comrades, I greet you all in the name of Peace, democracy and freedom for all. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands."
In 1992, Mr Mandela divorced his wife, Winnie, after she was convicted on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault.
In December 1993, Mr Mandela and Mr De Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Five months later, for the first time in South Africa's history, all races voted in democratic elections and Mr Mandela was elected president.
Mr Mandela's greatest problems as president included a chronic housing shortage for the poor and a high crime rate.
He entrusted his deputy, Thabo Mbeki, with the day-to-day business of the government, while he concentrated on the ceremonial duties of a leader, building a new international image for South Africa.
"Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land (South Africa) will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world."
Mr Mandela succeeded in persuading the country's multinational corporations to remain invested in South Africa.
On his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of neighbouring Mozambique.
He continued travelling the world, meeting leaders, attending conferences and collecting awards after stepping down as president in 1999.
Mr Mandela was South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV-Aids and securing his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup.
He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and encouraged peace efforts in other areas of the world.
After his official retirement, his public appearances have been mostly connected with the work of the Mandela Foundation, a charitable fund that he founded.
President Mandela famously united a nation when he donned the Springboks rugby jersey to congratulate the mainly white team's victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
A Hollywood movie, Invictus, was since made about that, with Nelson Mandela played by the actor, Morgan Freeman.
Long before the production of Invictus, Morgan Freeman says he was chosen for the role by the one person who mattered most: Nelson Mandela himself.
Freeman told the BBC it was a privilege to accompany Mr Mandela to a special screening.
"I think he liked it. He didn't say, 'I liked it.' I was sitting right next to him, and there were a lot of smiles and nods, things that he recognised. He slept quite a bit in the first half -- we showed it to him in two sections. The second half, he was awake the whole time, so I think he was engaged."
In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in what he called "quiet reflection".
He had this warning for anyone thinking of inviting him to future engagements.
"Don't call me, I'll call you." (laughter)
But Nelson Mandela was back in the spotlight the following year, following this very personal announcement.
"My son has died of AIDS."
In a country where taboos still surround talking about the AIDS epidemic, Mr Mandela announced that his last surviving son, Makgatho had succumbed to the disease.
He urged South Africans talk about AIDS to take away the stigma and treat it as a normal illness.
He even co-opted rock and pop stars to take part in a series of music concerts as part of his AIDS-awareness 46664 campaign, so named for his prison number.
"Where there is a poverty and sickness, including AIDS, where human beings are being oppressed, there is more work to be done."
On his 89th birthday, he formed The Elders, a group of leading world figures to offer their expertise and guidance "to tackle some of the world's toughest problems".
UN chief Ban Ki Moon praised the initiative and the man, who he described as a towering figure who embodied the highest values of humanity.
"He was not backed by money or power. As he constantly reminds us, he is an ordinary man, but he has achieved extraordinary things. Nelson Mandela's accomplishments came at great personal cost to himself and his family. His sacrifice not only served the people of his own nation, South Africa, but made the world a better place for all people everywhere."
On his 91st birthday in 2009, his family and charitable foundation harnessed his iconic status around the globe to promote community service.
Called Mandela Day, organisers asked the public to dedicate 67 minutes to an act of service to others, a minute for every year since Mr Mandela took up the struggle for equality in South Africa.
His third wife, Graca Machel, described Mandela Day as a fitting tribute to an astonishing man.
"Today is an opportunity for millions of people in the world to look inside themselves and find those beautiful qualities that any human being has and say, I am able to make a difference to my neighbour. To someone who is underprivileged. I can extend my goodness to other people."
The UN General Assembly unanimously agreed, starting in 2010, the day will be observed each year on Mr Mandela's birthday, the 18th of July.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation all continue humanitarian work on his behalf.
