Nelson Mandela died "peacefully" and surrounded by his family at his Johannesburg home on Thursday evening, aged 95, South African President Jacob Zuma says, dpa reported.
"This is our moment of deepest sorrow, our nation has lost its greatest son," said Zuma, describing the anti-Apartheid icon as a "father" to the nation.
South Africans would "mourn the one person who, more than any other, came to embody their sense of common nationhood."
Mandela will be given a state funeral.