Tearful homecoming for the man whose journey changed a nation
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Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, was laid to rest yesterday after a state funeral filled with tearful eulogies and strident vows to pursue his ideals of equality and justice.
Mandela’s coffin was buried at the family plot in his rural boyhood home of Qunu, watched by his widow Graca Machel, ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, other family members and around 450 guests.
The interment followed a ceremonial state funeral that ran well over its allotted two hours, as speaker after speaker paid emotional tribute to the man who led South Africa out of the apartheid era.
“The person who lies here is South Africa’s greatest son,” said ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in an opening address.
A 21-gun salute and full military honor guard escorted Mandela’s coffin to a marquee where 4,500 mourners said their final farewells.
His flag-draped coffin was placed on cowskins and surrounded by 95 candles — each signifying a year of his life.
The frail and aging leaders of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle also attended: George Bizos, Desmond Tutu and Ahmed Kathrada, whose voice broke with emotion as he delivered a eulogy for his old friend.
“I first met him 67 years ago,” said Kathrada, who along with Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1963.
He recalled his fellow inmate as a powerful amateur boxer who could cope far better than others with the physical challenge of hard labor.
“What I saw in hospital was a man helpless and reduced to a shadow of himself,” he said, struggling not to break down.
“We can salute you as a fighter for freedom. Farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader.
“Now I’ve lost a brother my life is in a void and I don’t know who turn to.”
His words left many in tears among the invited guests, whose ranks included foreign dignitaries and celebrities ranging from Britain’s Prince Charles to US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.
Nandi Mandela said her grandfather went barefoot to school in Qunu and eventually became president and a figure of global import.
“It is to each of us to achieve anything you want in life,” she said, recalling kind gestures by Mandela “that made all those around him also want to do good.”
In the Xhosa language, she referred to her grandfather by his clan name: “Go well, Madiba. Go well to the land of our ancestors, you have run your race.”
The funeral closed the final chapter on a towering figure whose courage and moral fortitude turned him into a global symbol of freedom and hope.
During 10 days of mourning, hundreds of thousands of South Africans turned out to bid the founding father of their “Rainbow Nation” farewell.
They braved a rain-sodden memorial in Soweto and queued for three days to see his remains as they lay in state at Pretoria’s Union Buildings.
For 50 million compatriots, Mandela was not just a president, but a moral guide who led them away from internecine racial conflict.
“Ever since he passed away, I wanted to walk the journey with him,” said Pascal Moloi, 52, who made the trip from Johannesburg to Qunu.
For the rest of the world he was a charismatic leader of the anti-apartheid struggle.
At the funeral service, South African President Jacob Zuma told the country to carry on his legacy.
“One thing we can assure you of today Tata (father), as you take your final steps, is that South Africa will continue to rise. South Africa will continue to rise because we dare not fail you,” Zuma said.
After the ceremony, Mandela’s coffin was transported to a graveyard sitting on the sprawling family estate that Mandela had built in Qunu after his release from prison in 1990.
“It was in that village that I spent some of the happiest years of my boyhood and whence I trace my earliest memories,” he wrote in his autobiography.
As the coffin was lowered into the ground, a formation of six fighter aircraft — with one pulling away to symbolize a missing man — flew overhead.
After a life in the public spotlight, Mandela’s final rites were a private affair. A family deprived of their husband and father during his 27 years in prison and many more years in public service seized it as an intimate last goodbye to a man who meant so much to millions.
A live television broadcast followed the coffin to the graveside but was cut after several minutes in line with the family’s wishes.
Overseen by male members of his clan in accordance with traditional Xhosa rites, the burial included the slaughter of an ox — a ritual marking of a life’s milestones.
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