In a symbol befitting a nation in mourning, a dark gray cloud swept over Johannesburg on Friday as news spread that international icon Nelson Mandela is dead.
Under overcast skies that threatened rain any minute, South Africans draped in flags and images of Mandela gathered on the streets to sing and dance.
Others wept as they lit candles near his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton.
Children spelled out "we love you Mandela" on the grass using rocks. Nearby, stuffed animals and flowers sat in a heap.
In Soweto township, where Mandela lived before he was thrown into prison for 27 years, giant posters of his face adorned walls. Residents surrounded his former red brick house on the busy street and crooned freedom songs.
Mandela, 95, died Thursday. The former president battled health issues in recent years, including a recurring lung infection that led to numerous hospitalizations.
"It was a surprise. I was asleep so I didn't know when President (Jacob) Zuma announced his death," said Wilson Mudau, a cab driver in Johannesburg. "I woke up and was shocked when I saw it on television. It's sad, but what can we do. Let him rest in peace. It's time ... Madiba has worked so hard to unite us."
South Africans affectionately refer to him as Madiba, his clan name.
Man of complexities
Mandela helped South Africa break the shackles of racial segregation and do away with white minority rule.
Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid, he emerged determined to unite the nation.
Instead of anger and bitterness at the white government that imprisoned him, he chose forgiveness and reconciliation.
"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison," Mandela said after he was freed in 1990.
His call to avoid vengeance inspired the world. It also set him on a path of evolving roles, from freedom fighter, to prisoner, to South Africa's symbol of the struggle against racial oppression.
But one role remained dominant: father of modern South Africa. And four years after he left prison, he became the nation's first black president, cementing his place in the consciousness of the nation and the world.
But the recent bouts of illnesses prepared many for the worst.
"We all knew he'd leave at some point," said Tony Karuiru, a Johannesburg resident. "But we were hoping that he would be with us during the festive season. It's the holidays, we're all expecting bonus. I just wish God would have given him a bonus of a few more days as well. "
Thomas Rabodiba, 38, said even though Mandela's death was expected after so many years of illness, he's having a hard time accepting it.
"I'm so sad. I couldn't believe the rumors that he was no more," he said. "There have always been rumors of him dying, and I thought it was the same thing. After I heard the president announcement that the old man has departed, I started believing he's gone."
Mandela will be remembered for many things, but his message of forgiveness and reconciliation will supersede.
"Mandela's biggest legacy ... was his remarkable lack of bitterness and the way he did not only talk about reconciliation, but he made reconciliation happen in South Africa," said F.W. de Klerk, South Africa's last white president before giving way to Mandela, the country's first black leader.
His casket will lie in state for several days in Pretoria. Next week, it will be flown to his ancestral hometown of Qunu for a state funeral and burial, sources said.
Until that funeral, Zuma has ordered flags around South Africa to be flown at half-staff. The United States and United Kingdom followed suit.
"We must pay tribute to Mandela, the best state leader of all time," said Zaid Paruk, 23.
Mandela last appeared in public during the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa.
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