Exeter has begun to pay tribute to the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, after the anti-apartheid icon's death was announced.
Mr Mandela, 95, took his country out of white-minority rule in the 90s, after spending three decades in prison.
Over the last few months he had been having medical treatment at home for a lung infection.
Current president of South Africa Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela had "departed" and was at peace.
He said: "Our nation has lost its greatest son."
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw posted his tribute on Twitter, writing: "The anti apartheid anti racism cause was what first got me involved in political activity as a teenager #Mandela inspiration thank you"
Exeter Labour Party tweeted: "We must never forget his love, strength and forgiveness. A great leader and a great man. Nelson Mandela RIP."
Paul Bull, Labour and Co-op Councillor for Cowick posted: "Farewell Madiba. A great man…a great statesman. The best."
A commemoration has been planned at 7pm on Saturday in Princesshay, Exeter.
Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero of our time. I've asked for the flag at No10 to be flown at half mast."
Opposition leader Ed Miliband tweeted: "The world has lost the global hero of our age. Nelson Mandela showed us the true meaning of courage, hope, and reconciliation."
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election.
His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation.
Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997.
A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law.
Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League.
After the Afrikaner nationalists of the National Party came to power in 1948 and began implementing the policy of apartheid, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was elected President of the Transvaal ANC Branch and oversaw the 1955 Congress of the People.
Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961 but was found not guilty.
Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the South African Communist Party he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a bombing campaign against government targets.
In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
Mandela served 27 years in prison, first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison.
An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid escalating civil strife.
Becoming ANC President, Mandela published his autobiography and led negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory.
He was elected President and formed a Government of National Unity in an attempt to defuse ethnic tensions. As President, he promulgated a new constitution and initiated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses.
Continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand healthcare services.
Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho.
He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela subsequently became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life.
Right-wing critics denounced him as a terrorist and communist sympathiser. He nevertheless gained international acclaim for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance, having received more than 250 honours, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin.
He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as "the father of the nation".
Mandela died following a long illness on 5 December 2013 at his home in Johannesburg.
FULL TEXT OF THE ADDRESS BY JACOB ZUMA
South African president Jacob Zuma told the world that Nelson Mandela "has departed".
Here is the full text of his address:
"My fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation has departed.
"He passed on peacefully in the company of his family around 20.50 on December 5 2013.
"He is now resting. He is now at peace.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.
"Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.
"His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world.
"His humility, his compassion, and his humanity earned him their love. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. To them we owe a debt of gratitude.
"They have sacrificed much and endured much so that our people could be free.
"Our thoughts are with his wife Mrs Graca Machel, his former wife Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, with his children, his grandchildren, his great grandchildren and the entire family.
"Our thoughts are with his friends, comrades and colleagues who fought alongside Madiba over the course of a lifetime of struggle.
"Our thoughts are with the South African people who today mourn the loss of the one person who, more than any other, came to embody their sense of a common nationhood.
"Our thoughts are with the millions of people across the world who embraced Madiba as their own, and who saw his cause as their cause.
"This is the moment of our deepest sorrow.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son.
"Yet, what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.
"And in him we saw so much of ourselves.
"Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together, and it is together that we will bid him farewell.
"Our beloved Madiba will be accorded a state funeral.
"I have ordered that all flags of the Republic of South Africa be lowered to half-mast from tomorrow, December 6, and to remain at half-mast until after the funeral.
"As we gather to pay our last respects, let us conduct ourselves with the dignity and respect that Madiba personified.
"Let us be mindful of his wishes and the wishes of his family.
"As we gather, wherever we are in the country and wherever we are in the world, let us recall the values for which Madiba fought.
"Let us reaffirm his vision of a society in which none is exploited, oppressed or dispossessed by another.
"Let us commit ourselves to strive together - sparing neither strength nor courage - to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
"Let us express, each in our own way, the deep gratitude we feel for a life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of humanity.
"This is indeed the moment of our deepest sorrow.
"Yet it must also be the moment of our greatest determination.
"A determination to live as Madiba has lived, to strive as Madiba has strived and to not rest until we have realised his vision of a truly united South Africa, a peaceful and prosperous Africa, and a better world.
"We will always love you, Madiba!
"May your soul rest in peace.
"God Bless Africa.
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika."
![Exeter pays tribute to Nelson Mandela]( "Exeter pays tribute to Nelson Mandela")
