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South Africa: Thousands queue in Pretoria to bid farewell to Nelson Mandela
Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s body lying in state. PHOTO/Marco Longari/AFP
Thousands of people queued on Wednesday to say goodbye to Nelson Mandela, whose body was lying in state in Pretoria in the building where the anti-apartheid hero was inaugurated in 1994 as South Africa’s first black president.
Foreign dignitaries and celebrities joined thousands of South Africans at the imposing Union Buildings, perched on a hill overlooking Pretoria, for a last chance to see the body of the man regarded as the father of democratic South Africa.
Mandela’s flag-draped casket was met by officers representing branches of the military on arrival from the capital’s main military hospital, in a formal ceremony that contrasted with Tuesday’s memorial.
Thousands of mourners lined the streets as the black hearse, led by a procession of police motorcycles, wound its way to the official seat of government.
Mandela’s death on Thursday at the age of 95 has brought an outpouring of grief and mourning in the country he led as president from 1994 to 1999, as well as celebration and thanksgiving for his life and achievements.
Traffic in Pretoria was gridlocked from early morning and shops along the procession route were closed.
Mandela, a Nobel Peace laureate will be buried on Sunday in Qunu, his ancestral home in the rural Eastern Cape province, 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg.
Among those filing past Mandela’s casket were singer Bono, model Naomi Campbell and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.; F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s last white president who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela, appeared to wipe away a tear as he passed the coffin.
The mood was more somber than jubilant, a marked departure from Tuesday’s memorial in Soweto, where the crowd danced and sang in the rain to honor Mandela’s memory.
Mandela’s death has diverted attention from the political bickering and scandals associated with the Zuma administration, but it has also underscored the gulf between South Africa’s first black president and its third.
Although South African newspapers flayed Zuma on Wednesday, they also reprimanded the crowd for booing during the service to commemorate a man famed for his ability to reconcile and forgive former enemies.
The heckling of Zuma could be a worrying sign for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as it heads for polls next year. But having won nearly 66 percent of the vote in 2009, the ANC is unlikely to lose its majority next year.
Source: Reuters