"Our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed."
It was South Africa's current president, Jacob Zuma who broke the news of Nelson Mandela's death to his nation.
(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
Mr Zuma said the man who's become known as the founding father of modern, democratic South Africa will be accorded a state funeral, and that all flags would be lowered to half-mast in commemoration of his life and death, and that they'll remain there until after his funeral.
(Click on audio tab above to hear full item)
President Zuma said Nelson Mandela was able to connect so successfully with South Africans and others around the world because, despite his greatness, he remained as humble as the most humble.
"What made Nelson Mandela great is precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves and in him we saw so much of ourselves."
Within minutes of the news of Nelson Mandela's death being announced, world leaders were offering their unqualified admiration and respect for his achievements.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Mr Mandela's moral force, developed through the way he handled being imprisoned by the apartheid state and what he did upon his release, was decisive in the dismantling the racist apartheid system.
"Remarkably, he emerged from 27 years of detention without rancour, determined to build a new South Africa based on dialogue and reconciliation. I was privileged to meet Nelson Mandela in February 2009. When I thanked him for his life's work, he insisted the credit belonged to others. I will never forget his selflessness and deep sense of shared purpose."
Another world leader who overcame racial prejudice to lead his country, United States President Barack Obama said Mr Mandela had provided an inspiring example for himself and millions of others around the world.
President Obama said Mr Mandela found a fierce dignity and unbending will within himself to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others.
"His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings and countries can change for the better. His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives and the fact that he did it all with grace and good humour and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections only makes the man that much more remarkable."
But Mr Obama recalled that despite the extraordinary praise he'd attracted through life, the former South African president had once humbly said, "I'm not a saint unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying".
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Fairfax radio that Mr Mandela's greatness was evident not only in his struggle during apartheid, but also in the nation he helped construct during his presidency.
"He was the father of modern South Africa, a multiracial, pluralist democracy where people were judged, to use Martin Luther King's phrase, on the content of their character, not the content of their skin, so a truly great man."
Although knowing his death was eventually inevitable, the nation Nelson Mandela helped create was shocked on hearing the news.
Speaking from South Africa shortly after the news broke, SBS Dutch program correspondent Alet Van Rensburt said the nation has fallen into deep mourning.
"South Africans are in shock and very sad. A lot of people have gathered at Nelson Mandela's home in Johannesburg in ..... the upmarket suburb of ...... People say they got out of bed the moment they heard the news and they rushed off to his house so they can pay their respects to Nelson Mandela. A lot of people brought their children, there are lots of children outside his home and if you look on the Twitter and on the other social media like Facebook, South Africans seem to be awake. They've heard the news. Shock all around and great sadness."
But Ms Van Rensburt says the South Africa Nelson Mandela leaves behind is not as united as he might have hoped.
She says his death may provide the necessary impetus to reinvigorate efforts to complete his vision.
"I've got to be quite honest. I think at times things were better in South Africa than they are right now at this moment. Lately there's been a lot of political turmoil. Lots of stories about corruption and bad news, which actually deepened the divide in South Africa. I think South Africans were closer at one stage, but maybe the news of Nelson Mandela's death could reunite South Africans and bring them closer together."
