FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013 www.jamaica-gleaner.

com INCLUDING GCT $50

The Gleaner
JOHANNESBURG (AP):
N
ELSON MANDELA, who became
one of the worlds most beloved
statesmen and a colossus of the 20th
century when he emerged from 27 years in
prison to negotiate an end to white minority rule
in South Africa, has died. He was 95.
South Africas President, Jacob Zuma, made the
announcement at a news conference late yesterday, say-
ing weve lost our greatest son.
His death closed the final chapter in South Africas struggle
to cast off apartheid, leaving the world with indelible mem-
ories of a man of astonishing grace and good humour.
SEE MORE ON PAGES A2, A3, A4 & A5
MANDELA
JULY 18, 1918 -DECEMBER 5, 2013
THE MAN
THE MISSION
VOLUME 179 NO. 291 KINGSTON, JAMAICA 80 PAGES
MORE NEWS ON B9: T&T SECURITY MINISTER ANGERS JA KARTEL TRIAL GOES IN CAMERA
WORLD
HERO
NELSON MANDELA
was born to the
Thembu royal family in
South Africa on July
18, 1918.
His Christian
(Methodist) mother and
polygamous father
named him Rolihlahla
(Xhosa for trouble-
maker) but, consistent
with tradition and
British bias, in
Methodist school, his
teacher renamed him
Nelson, which mysti-
fied Mandela.
He was dispatched to
his mothers native vil-
lage to be brought up
by older sisters and
tended herds as a cattle
boy. Soon after, his
father died. His mother
entrusted him to the
guardianship of the
Thembu regent and his
wife, who had two chil-
dren. Mandela bonded
well with the family in
the Great Place palace
in Mqhekezweni. He
attended weekly services
with them and devel-
oped a love for African
history and culture that
endured throughout a
succession of
Methodist secondary
and tertiary institutions.
His ultimate aim was
to be a lawyer, but he
first studied humanities,
pursuing a BAdegree
at Fort Hare, a small
elite black university
where he indulged in
sports and ballroom
dancing and performed
in a play about
Abraham Lincoln. He
was suspended from the
university for his role
in a food strike and left
without a degree.
The world mourns South
African anti-apartheid
hero and former president