MWILI WA MANDELA WAPELEKWA KWENYE OFISI ZA SERIKALI - MATUKIO YOTE YAPO HAPA
Naomi's tears for Mandela: Supermodel breaks down after seeing ex-president's coffin as thousands of mourners line streets to see it driven to lie in state in the former home of apartheid
- Body is transported to lie in state at Union Buildings, the seat of government in South Africa's capital Pretoria
- It is the place where Mandela ruled the country after unseating the apartheid regime which was based there
- South Africans waited from the early hours to honour celebrated leader and lined the streets for procession
- Naomi Campbell, Bono, Jacob Zuma and Mandela's wives Winnie and Graca were among the mourners today
- Giant arena in his home town of Qunu is being built to stage the biggest funeral in South Africa's history
Supermodel
Naomi Campbell today wept as she joined mourners viewing Nelson
Mandela's casket as the great former president of South Africa lies in
state in the country's capital Pretoria.
Thousands
lined the streets as a hearse drove the coffin, wrapped in a South
African flag, from a hospital to the government's Union Buildings to lie
in state for three days.
This
morning Mandela's grandson Mandla visited the open casket of his
grandfather, followed by his second wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and
third wife Graca Machel, as well as South Africa's current president
Jacob Zuma.
U2 singer Bono
was another visitor to the site, as well as world leaders such as Sri
Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa and South African dictator Robert Mugabe. F.W.
de Klerk, Mandela's deputy, also paid tribute to the global icon.
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Tribute: Military officers carry the casket of
former president Nelson Mandela into the Union Buildings in the South
African capital Pretoria, the seat of government where he will lie in
state for three days
Grand scale: South Africans have been asked to line the streets every time Mandela's hearse drives through Pretoria
Tears: Naomi Campbell, whom Mandela described as a 'granddaughter' to him, wept as she visited the casket
Distraught: The British model was overcome with emotion at the site in Pretoria where Mandela's body is on display
Leaving: Ms Campbell walking away from viewing Mandela's open casket today
Sombre: Bono went to pay his respects to the
late leader along with his wife Ali Hewson, left, and Mandela's former
assistant Zelda le Grange, right
Some visitors made the sign of the cross, while others simply spent a few moments gazing at Mandela's face through a glass plane as four junior naval officers stood watch in white uniforms.
Some appeared lost in the presence of the great leader's body. South Sudan's president Salva Kiir Mayardit stood for a moment, transfixed, before removing his trademark black cowboy hat and crossing himself.
Mr Mandela's remains will be moved daily between the Military Hospital on the outskirts of Pretoria to the Union Buildings.
It was there that he assumed the first black presidency of South Africa in 1994, holding court in the same rooms once occupied by his white oppressors.
Salute: Soldiers pay tribute as the hearse carrying Mandela's casket passes them on its way to the Union Buildings
Arrival: The procession this morning concluded with Mandela's casket being carried in to the Union Buildings
Poignant: The Union Buildings were the seat of the apartheid government before Mandela ruled the country from there
Solemn: The casket will lie in state at the Union Buildings until Mandela is buried at a funeral on Sunday
Symbolic: The casket was wrapped in the South African flag which was introduced after the end of apartheid
'I just hope I won't cry,' said Paul
Letageng, an employee at the building, 'It's amazing to think that 19
years ago he was inaugurated there, and now he's lying there. If he was
not here we would not have had peace in South Africa.'One onlooker told Sky News: 'We loved that man and he fought for us. He fought for us to be here so Viva Mandela and let him rest in peace.'
'This a significant moment for me and my children,' said 48-year-old teacher Thapelo Dlamini, who had been on waiting on the street for two hours with his two children.
Army helicopters had been circling overhead but then a sudden quiet fell over the amphitheatre as the hearse arrived.
Moved: Jacob Zuma, South Africa's current president, was joined by Mandela's widow Graca Michel, dressed in black, at the site
Grief: Winnie Mandela was dressed in black as she went to see the casket of her ex-husband
Bowing: Mr Zuma leans down in respect as he views Mandela at the Union Buildings
Controversial: Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe also joined the crowds at the viewing
Eight
warrant officers representing the various services and divisions of the
South African National Defense Force carried the casket, led by a
military chaplain in a purple stole. The officers set down the coffin
and removed the flag.
Mr
Mandela will be buried on Sunday in Qunu, his ancestral home in the
Eastern Cape province, where a giant arena is already being built
nearby.
A stone's throw from the home where the former ANC leader grew up, it will stage the biggest funeral in South Africa’s
history.
Prince Charles will be among the dignitaries travelling to the remote rural location for the service.
Citizens stood on top of bollards and clamoured to film the historic passing of the cortege on their phones
Soldiers salute Mr Mandela's coffin as it leaves the 1 Military Hospital on the outskirts of Pretoria this morning
Emotional: Thousands of South Africans waved and paid their respects to their first black president
Icon: Despite the early start, citizens thronged the streets of downtown Pretoria to glimpse the hearse
Cortege: The body of Nelson Mandela is driven through the streets of the capital Pretoria this morning
Meanwhile a public memorial service in London today will remember the life of the anti-apartheid leader.
The
service will be held at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square
from 10.30am at the request of the South African High Commission, feet
away from the church.
The two share strong links and were the scene of freedom vigils for Mr Mandela during his incarceration.
Speaking
at the service will be Sir Sydney Kentridge QC and Lord Joffe of
Lidington, who both represented Mr Mandela at his treason trials, and
campaigner and African National Congress veteran Mama Thembi Nobhadula.
Thousands of people are expected to pay their respects to their former leader over the next few days.
Tribute: South Africans lined the streets as Mr Mandela's remains were driven past at about 7am
Hitching a lift: A man carries his daughter on his shoulders as he joins the crowds going to look at Mandela's body
Onlookers waited for hours. One told Sky News: 'We loved that man. He fought for us to be here'
Cheers: A group of women show their support for Mandela from behind a security barrier as the cortege passes
Waving goodbye: South Africa is currently engaged in a week of mourning for its former president
Good humour: Many South Africans have taken the opportunity to celebrate Mandela's life as much as mourning his death
Procession: These mourners had gathered on Madiba Street to watch the hearse pass with its military guard
Barack Obama yesterday led tributes to
Mr Mandela as world leaders joined thousands of people at a memorial
service in the rain-soaked FNB Stadium in Soweto, where the former South
African president made his final frail appearance during the 2010 World
Cup.
The US president spoke
of the 'heroic' life of the South African leader, describing him as the
'last great liberator of the 20th century' and compared his actions to
those of Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and US civil rights leader
Martin Luther King.
But he also warned against viewing Mr Mandela as detached from normal life.
'He was not a bust made of marble, he was a man made of flesh and blood,' Mr Obama told the crowds.
Protected: Dozens of outriders accompanied the hearse of Mr Mandela as it travelled through Pretoria
Sombre: While Mr Mandela's death at 95 was sad, most used the occasion to celebrate his achievements
Poignant: Flowers lie on the road as Mr Mandela's cortege skirts through the outskirts of the capital
Dancing: Young mourners celebrated Mandela's life as they watched the progress of the convoy
Send-off: A group of South African women dancing and singing to honour Mandela's memory
Military: Soldiers stand to attention as they wait for the procession to pass them on the streets of Pretoria
'It was precisely because he
could admit to imperfection, because he was so full of good humour, even
mischief despite the heavy burdens that he carried, that we loved him
so,' he added.
Mr Obama's
speech came after he shook hands in the stadium with Cuban president
Raul Castro, the first such greeting in public involving a president of
the US since the Cuban revolution.
The
former US president Bill Clinton reportedly shook hands in private with
Raul's brother Fidel behind closed doors at a UN lunch in 2000.
During
the service in the two-thirds-filled stadium, boos were heard for the
current South African president Jacob Zuma and the former US president
George W Bush. But there were cheers for Mr Obama and for Zimbabwean
president Robert Mugabe.
Mr Mandela, who died last Thursday aged 95, was described as one of the most iconic world leaders in history
A dome is constructed near the house of former South African president Nelson Mandela, in Qunu
Nelson Mandela's face is seen on a huge screen next to mourners at yesterday's stadium service
South Africans were praised for the 'dignified' way in which they commemorated the death of Nelson Mandela
Those attending included Prime Minister
David Cameron and his three surviving predecessors, Sir John Major, Tony
Blair and Gordon Brown.
Also
seen arriving at the service were supermodel Naomi Campbell, rock star
Bono, former South African president FW De Klerk, Mr Clinton and his
wife, ex-US secretary of state Hillary, former French president Nicolas
Sarkozy and the current president Francois Hollande.
Mr
Mandela, described at one time as the world's most famous political
prisoner, was released after 27 years in jail in 1990 and went on to
become South Africa's first black president. He died last Thursday aged
95.
The service, marked
by heavy rain, heard from Andrew Mlangeni, a former prisoner on Robben
Island with Mr Mandela, who spoke of the 'outpouring of love' following
his death.
'Madiba is
looking down on us. There is no doubt he is smiling and he watches his
beloved country, men and women, unite to celebrate his life and legacy,'
he said.
UN
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon told the service: 'South Africa has lost a
hero, we have lost a father and the world has lost a beloved friend and
mentor.
'Nelson Mandela
was more than one of the greatest leaders of our time, he was one of
our greatest teachers. He taught by example, he sacrificed so much and
was willing to give up everything for freedom, equality and justice.'
Thousands of ordinary South Africans sang God
Bless Africa - Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika - as they joined leaders at the
FNB stadium in Soweto
The memorial celebrated his gift for uniting enemies across political and racial divides
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