With military pomp and traditional rituals, South Africa buried Nelson Mandela
on Sunday, the end of an exceptional journey for the prisoner turned president
who transformed the nation.
Mandela was laid to rest in his
childhood village of Qunu.
Tribal leaders clad in animal
skins joined dignitaries in dark suits at the grave site overlooking the rolling
green hills.
As pallbearers walked toward the
site after a funeral ceremony, helicopters whizzed past dangling the national
flag. Cannons fired a 21-gun salute, its echoes ringing over the quiet
village.
Mandela's widow, Graca Machel,
dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief as she watched the proceedings.
"Yours was truly a long walk to
freedom. Now you have achieved the ultimate freedom in the bosom of God, your
maker," an officiator at the grave site said.
Military pallbearers gently
removed the South African flag that draped the coffin and handed it to President
Jacob Zuma, who gave it to Mandela's family.
At the request of the family, the
lowering of the casket was closed to the media.
The funeral ceremony
Before making their way to the
grave site, mourners attended a service in a tent set up at the family compound.
They wept, sang and danced in what has become a familiar celebration of his
life.
Mandela's coffin, draped in his
country's flag, lay atop black and white cattle skins in front of a crescent of
95 candles, each marking a year of his life.
As the national anthem "Nkosi
Sikelel' iAfrika" or "God Bless Africa" drifted over the village, a giant
picture of Mandela looked down with a smile. Mourners placed their fists on
their chests, some with tears streaming down their faces.
"Today marks the end of an
extraordinary journey that began 95 years ago," Zuma said during the ceremony.
"It is the end of 95 glorious years of a freedom fighter ... a beacon of hope to
all those fighting for a just and equitable world order."
The president thanked Mandela's
family for sharing him with the world and said his memory will live on.
"We shall not say goodbye, for
you are not gone," Zuma said. "You'll live forever in our hearts and minds."
About 4,500 people gathered in
the tent, including Machel, who sat next to Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie
Mandela.
In other major cities including
Johannesburg, crowds watched the funeral at special screenings in stadiums.
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Mourners represented all spheres
of Mandela's life. There were celebrities, presidents, relatives and former
political prisoners.
"You symbolize today and always
will ... qualities of forgiveness and reconciliation," said a tearful Ahmed
Kathrada, a close friend who served time in prison with Mandela for defying the
apartheid government. "I've lost a brother. My life is in a void, and I don't
know who to turn to."
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey,
Prince Charles and business mogul Richard Branson were also among the
attendees.
Final
chapter
The funeral and burial cap 10
days of national mourning for a man whose fame transcended borders.
"Nelson Mandela was our leader,
our hero, our icon and our father as much as he was yours," Tanzanian President
Jakaya Kikwete said, regaling mourners with tales of a secret visit Mandela made
in 1962 to Dar es Salaam to gather support for his party, the African National
Congress.
During his fight against
apartheid, Mandela fled to Tanzania, which housed the headquarters of the ANC.
The white minority government had banned it in South Africa.
In sharp contrast to the days of
apartheid, the events honoring Mandela included a great deal of pageantry, as
well as state honors.
Mandela's body arrived Saturday
in the tiny village in the Eastern Cape province, where he grew up surrounded by
lush, tranquil hills and velvety green grass.
Before arriving in Qunu, the
body lay in state for three days in Pretoria. After an emotional service at the
air base there, which included the handing over of his body to the ruling
African National Congress, it was put in a military helicopter for the final leg
of his journey.
Though he dined with kings and
presidents in his lifetime, the international icon relished his time at the
village. He herded cows and goats there as a child, and always said it's where
he felt most at peace. Some of his children are also buried there.
"He really believed this is
where he belonged," said his daughter, Maki Mandela.
Mandela was imprisoned for 27
years for defying the racist apartheid government that led South Africa for
decades. He emerged from prison in 1990 and became South Africa's first black
president four years later, all the while promoting forgiveness and
reconciliation.
His defiance of white minority
rule and his long incarceration for fighting segregation focused the world's
attention on apartheid, the legalized racial segregation enforced by the South
African government until 1994.
Years after his 1999 retirement
from the presidency, Mandela was considered the ideal head of state. He became a
yardstick for African leaders, who consistently fell short when measured against
him.
"Thank you for being everything
we wanted and needed in a leader during a difficult period in our lives," Zuma
said.
In keeping with tradition,
Mandela was laid to rest in the afternoon, when the sun is at its highest.
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