As the news of Mandela's death spread, residents of Soweto gathered in the streets near the house where he once lived, singing and dancing to mourn his death and celebrate his life.

Hundreds of people rushed to Nelson Mandela's home, singing and shouting 'Viva Mandela' after hearing of his death.

The world knows Nelson Mandela as a man who forever changed the course of modern history and who will surely continue to leave his mark long after his death at the age of 95.

South Africa's archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has lauded Nelson Mandela as the man who taught a deeply divided nation how to come together.

As the world mourns the loss of Nelson Mandela, nzherald.co.nz remembers the life of the anti-apartheid campaigner and the first black President of South Africa. He was imprisoned for 27 years, controversial for much of his life, he received international acclaim for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance. He was held in deep respect within South Africa, and has been described as "the father of the nation".

The life and times of Nelson Mandela.

Full text of President Jacob Zuma's address to the nation on the death of former President Nelson Mandela.

PK Stowers scales the heights of one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

'I just saw the whole slab that just came down and all you could hear was the guys screaming.' A witness describes a half-built mall collapse where 50 are trapped.

One of South Africa's most recognisable landmarks, Table Mountain has also been named one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

An American TV presenter is facing an outraged public backlash after she posted a picture of herself posing next to a dead lion she had apparently shot and killed.

British security company G4S is under fire in S Africa over allegations that its staff tortured inmates at the country's biggest private prison through electrocutions and forced injections.

This special wilderness sanctuary at the foot of the Warmwaterberg Mountain Range offers five-star accommodation as well as the opportunity to see endangered black and white rhinoceros species.

For further information see: sanbona.com

Paul Rush laments the possible extinction of South Africa's black and white rhino species.

Poachers in Zimbabwe have killed more than 300 elephants and countless other safari animals by cyanide poisoning.

Pest, charming oddity or just background noise, the Hadeda ibis is a feathered phenomenon in suburban South Africa.

Last May, with considerable trepidation, I wrote an article about what seemed to be extraordinarily high rates of rape in Africa.

A spokesman for former US president George H.W. Bush has apologised after erroneously issuing a statement of condolence stating that South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela had died.

Nelson Mandela went home in an ambulance after nearly three months in a hospital that became the focus of a global outpouring of concern.

The aircraft was reportedly caught in a strong gust of wind and crashed into mountains in Mpumalanga, near Durban.

US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are sending their wishes and prayers to former South African leader Nelson Mandela on his 95th birthday.

Shakespeare, in one of Nelson Mandela's favourite lines, now strangely apposite, says that "the valiant never taste of death but once".

Doctors treating Nelson Mandela have been forced to deny a claim he is in a "permanent vegetative state" that was made in court papers by a lawyer representing close members of his family.

US President Barack Obama is to meet members of Nelson Mandela's family during his visit to South Africa, the White House says.

Nelson Mandela's condition remains "critical" but the Government hopes the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero will be out of hospital soon, President Jacob Zuma says.

Of the many distinguished world figures who came through Government House in my time, the most memorable has to be Nelson Mandela, who came to New Zealand in 1995.