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 20h50 on the 5th of December 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 grand-children, his great grand-children 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, 6 December, 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.

亲爱的南非同胞们：

我们敬爱的纳尔逊•罗利赫拉赫拉•曼德拉（Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela），这个民主国家的国父，已经去世了。

2013年12月5号20点50分（当地时间），曼德拉在家人的陪伴下安详地离世了。

他现在离我们而去，与世长辞。

我们的国家失去了它最伟大的儿子，我们的人民失去了自己的父亲。

尽管知道这一天终将到来，我们仍感到这是一个巨大在而无法弥补的损失。

他锲而不舍地为自由而奋斗，赢得了世界的尊重。

谦逊、慈悲和人文关怀为他赢得了无尽的爱。我们和曼德拉家人同在，一起为曼德拉总统祈祷。我们欠他们数不清的感谢。

他们牺牲了许多，忍受了许多，才换来人民的自由。

曼德拉的妻子格拉萨·米歇尔（Grace Machel）、前任妻子温尼·曼德拉(Winnie Madikizela-Mandeal)以及子女，孙辈和曾孙辈和整个家庭，我们和你们同在。

曼德拉的朋友、陪伴在毕生不断奋斗的曼德拉身边的同事，我们和你们同在。

今日前来悼念曼德拉，践行国家观念的人民，我们和你们同在。

视曼德拉为自己的同胞，将曼德拉的事业视为自己事业的世界人民，我们和你们同在。

这一刻，我们向曼德拉致以最深沉的哀伤。

我们的国家失去了它最伟大的儿子。

纳尔逊·曼德拉的伟大之处在于他作为一个人对其他人的关爱，我们在他的身上看见了自己。

我们在他的身上看到了自己奋斗的方向。

亲爱的南非同胞们：

曼德拉让我们团结在了一起，我们要一起为他祈福送行。

我们将为至爱的曼德拉举行国葬。

我已下命所有悬挂国旗的机构在6日起开始降半旗，直到葬礼结束。

我们聚在一起向曼德拉表示最后的敬意，让我们向这位崇高而又受人尊敬的人告别吧！

让我们谨记他和他家庭的心愿。

让我们谨记曼德拉为之奋斗的价值观吧，无论身在南非何处，无论身在世界何地。

让我们继承他的遗志，建立一个没有剥削，没有压迫，没有掠夺的社会。

让我们团结一心，增强力量和勇气，建立一个团结、没有种族歧视、性别歧视、民主繁荣的南非共和国。

让我们向这位穷其一生服务国家人民和人类事业的人表示衷心的感谢。

这一刻，我们向曼德拉表示最深沉的哀悼。

这一刻，也是我们彰显坚定决心的时刻。

决心像曼德拉一样活着，为曼德拉奋斗的事业而奋斗，直至实现他的夙愿，建立一个真正统一的南非，一个繁荣和平的南非，一个更加美好的世界。

我们永远爱您，曼德拉。

愿您的灵魂得到安息。

上帝保佑南非。

上帝保佑非洲。