Mandela Family Issues First Statement

Nelson Mandela's family has issued its first statement since the former president's passing, the AP reports via Politico. "The pillar of the royal Mandela family is no more with us physically, but his spirit is still with us," a family spokesman read to reporters. "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." (More Nelson Mandela stories.)