No doubt by now you have already heard the news – an icon of reconciliation and forgiveness has left us. While Nelson Mandela is gone, he most certainly will not be forgotten, with many world leaders, charity organizations and people having a story of their own to tell of their experience of his presence.

Like many others I vividly remember the day when he was released from prison (still in my teens at the time) and being told that this was a momentous day, history in the making, that I would remember for many years to come.

Several years later, when I was a fledgling photojournalist, I had the privilege and several opportunities to photograph Mandela. What I remember most though, was how exceptionally congenial he was with all the journalists. Of all the events I attended where he was speaking, we were never heavy handedly treated; it was as though everyone was regarded the same, whether you were a high profile politician, businessman, common man or, in the case of us photographers, working man.

This, in itself, was remarkable, considering both his stature and importance to the country as a whole.

What’s more, being in the presence of Mandela seemed to inspire a profound level of camaraderie amongst the photographers around me that I have never seen to the same extent. I remember three of us balancing on a chair outside the Sandton Convention Centre, an arm around each others’ shoulders for support, at Mandela’s 85th birthday. Race was irrelevant (as it should be), and friendship amongst strangers felt like the most natural occurrence in the world.

It is said that the greatness of a man can be measured by how he treats animals. I would add to that, that it can be measured by how he inspires those around him. Put simply, Mandela was an inspiration. My hope is that what he inspired lives on, and that ordinary people pick up the mantle of forgiveness, reconciliation and working for something bigger than themselves. To my mind, that would be the best way to honour Nelson Mandela’s footsteps on this Earth on his long walk.

While he will be missed, he will also be remembered. Now, the great man is finally, fully free.