"We are not here to mourn but to commemorate, honour, and celebrate him because of everything he has done," said Lerato Hlongwane of Dobsonville.

Nelson Mandela was a "second Jesus" for what he had done for the world, said one of the people who had gathered outside his former home in Vilakazi Street in Soweto on Friday.

"We are not here to mourn but to commemorate, honour, and celebrate him because of everything he has done," said Lerato Hlongwane of Dobsonville.

She said she felt relieved that the country's former president had died because the pain and emotional trauma the family had been going through "was too much".

"I think it was time that God excused him," Hlongwane said.

She was among a handful of people who sang and danced in the chilly weather until daylight.

The group marched up and down the street and around the block singing songs praising Madiba and the role he played in the struggle against apartheid. Police officers patrolled the street and took pictures of the flowers and the roses being placed for Mandela.

Mandela died at his home in Houghton around 8.50pm on Thursday.