Mandela: Low key and emotive one-year death anniversary

"When he left, he said, 'I leave you in peace, and I want you to live in peace,'" Mandela's widow Graca Machel told his relatives and dignitaries at the Union Buildings, the official seat of the South African government, in Pretoria.

"Peace is the gift of legacy he left us," Machel said, adding that South Africa still had "a long way to overcome racial, ethnic, religious and gender divisions."

Mandela's longtime friend Ahmed Kathrada said the president was both "proud and simple" and would be remembered for his "humanity and courage."

Relatives, friends, cabinet ministers, women and children laid wreaths at the foot of a Mandela statue in the gardens of the Union Buildings, where members of the public had gathered.

The programme was also due to include three minutes of silence, a ringing of bells, an address by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and interfaith prayers.

Ceremonies were taking place around the country.

Mandela died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.

South Africa jailed him because of his anti-apartheid activities for 27 years, including years of hard labour that took a toll on his health.

After his release from prison in 1990, Mandela sought reconciliation and a new South Africa where blacks and whites would live with equal rights.

After the 46-year apartheid regime collapsed, Mandela won the country's first democratic elections in 1994 and served as South Africa's first black president for five years.