Yes it is very sad when anyone dies especially if one knows therm personally, and after all it was to be expected as he was 95 and didn't die tragically, but I think that the media and most others have gone a little over the top on this one.
Yes he may have been a great man to those in South Africa, but he had no particular effect on my life and I would presume most others in this country, but when such words as "A very large light has gone out all over the word" are banded about isn't that going a little too far? The BBC for instance have wall to wall coverage on most of their radio stations as well as the main TV stations.
We have seen two tragic deaths in this country due to yesterdays terrible weather conditions but hardly a mention of them, in fact I noticed on Sky's rolling news strip at the bottom of the screen, mention of these two deaths just coming into view when they disappeared so as to get in more Nelson Mandela news.
No I think most of the mourning is a deep felt guilt to somehow excuse man's inhumanity to others during the apartheid days in South Africa and the fact that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a large amount of his life, in his and others attempt to change things.