Mandela tributes go into night in Soweto

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STORY: South Africans united in mourning for Nelson Mandela on Friday, with crowds gathering outside the anti-apartheid hero's former home in Soweto to celebrate his remarkable life with dance and song.

As the country's 52 million people absorbed the news that their beloved Madiba had departed forever, many expressed shock at the passing of a man who was a global symbol of reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.

South Africans heard from President Jacob Zuma late on Thursday that the statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate died peacefully at his Johannesburg home in the company of his family after a long illness.

Zuma said Mandela would be buried on December 15 at his ancestral home in the Eastern Cape. He also announced Mandela would be honored at a December 10 memorial service at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium, the site of the 2010 World Cup final.