Mandela family: ‘We have lost a great man’

Nelson Mandela’s family said Saturday “we have lost a great man, a son of the soil,” in their first statement since the former South African leader’s death this week. 

“The pillar of the royal Mandela family is no more with us physically, but his spirit is still with us,” Spokesman Lt. Gen. Temba Templeton Matanzima told reporters in Johannesburg, according to the Associated Press.

{mosads}Mandela died late Thursday after suffering from deteriorating health for a year. He was 95. South Africa will hold a number of memorial services and will bury him Dec. 15.

“We have lost a great man, a son of the soil whose greatness in our family was in the simplicity of his nature in our midst — a caring family leader who made time for all and on that score we will miss him dearly,” the family’s statement continued. 

The Obamas as well as former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, with their wives Laura and Hillary, are expected to travel to South Africa next week to attend services for Mandela.