Johannesburg - South Africans must keep working hard to realise former president Nelson Mandela's ideals, the ANC in the Eastern Cape said on Friday.
“As we reflect on his departure, it is his great contributions that inspire us to soldier on,” African National Congress provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said in a statement.
Just before midnight on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma announced that South Africa's first democratically elected president had died at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg.
Mabuyane said Mandela had worked hard to combat apartheid, colonialism and inequality by promoting unity in diversity.
“We have a duty, then, to work harder, smarter, to ensure that the dreams, ideals and aspirations of many people who worked with him become a reality.”
On behalf of the ANC in the Eastern Cape, he extended his condolences to the Mandela family.
Mandela was born near Mvezo in the Eastern Cape, and grew up in Qunu, where he retired in May 2012. - Sapa