We The World Love You Mandela

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Mandela, 95, died Thursday. The nation's first black president battled health issues in recent years, including a recurring lung infection that led to numerous hospitalizations.

President Jacob Zuma announced the loss late Thursday night, long after many South Africans had gone to bed.

They didn't find out until Friday morning.

"I woke up and was shocked when I saw it on television," said Wilson Mudau, a cabdriver in Johannesburg. "It's sad, but what can we do? Let him rest in peace. It's time ... Madiba has worked so hard to unite us."

South Africans affectionately refer to him as Madiba, his clan name.

In Soweto township, where Mandela lived before he was thrown into prison for 27 years, giant posters of his face adorned streets. Residents surrounded his former red brick house on a busy street and crooned freedom songs.

Around the world, memorials popped up from Los Angeles to Chicago, where flowers and candles were laid in front of murals bearing his likeness. In Washington, crowds gathered in front of the South African Embassy.

Australian and English cricket fans observed a moment of silence in Adelaide, Australia.

"I admired Mandela (because) he had not poisoned his heart," said Leo Udtohan of Bohol, Philippines. "He learned to forgive despite the horror he experienced while in prison."

At New York City's legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, the marquee lit up in tribute to Mandela.

"In memory of Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013," it said. "He changed our world."

The former president visited the the theater in 1990, the same year he was freed from prison.