Nelson Mandela has died, aged 95

Mike Gallagher

Dec 5, 2013 - 21:51

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In this image taken from video, the ailing anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, 94, appears more than three weeks after being released from hospital where he was treated for a recurring lung infection. Source: AP

NELSON Mandela, South Africa's first black president, has died at the age of 95.

The man credited with dismantling South Africa's system of apartheid which institutionalised racism, Mandela was an inteational symbol of reconciliation and human rights.

A trained lawyer who rose to prominence as a leader of the African National Congress's fight against the Afrikaaner regime, Mandela was imprisoned in 1962 for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the govement.

He served 27 years, mostly in the isolated Robben Island prison for political inmates.

An inteational campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990.

He was South Africa's president from 1994-99.

Mandela was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and is held in deep respect within South Africa as the \"Father of the Nation\".

He continued to work through his Nelson Mandela Foundation combating HIV/AIDS, amid failing health.

Over the last few years, Mandela had been hospitalised several times for a recurring lung infection.