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Crowds Gather for Final Glimpse of Mandela Crowds Gather for Final Glimpse of Mandela
(about 1 hour later)
QUNU, South Africa — For a third and final day, the body of Nelson Mandela was lying in state on Friday in a glass-topped coffin outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the capital, as thousands of South Africans waited in the heat to catch a final glimpse of the man they credit with unifying the nation following the end of apartheid rule.QUNU, South Africa — For a third and final day, the body of Nelson Mandela was lying in state on Friday in a glass-topped coffin outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the capital, as thousands of South Africans waited in the heat to catch a final glimpse of the man they credit with unifying the nation following the end of apartheid rule.
As the crowds filed by, public attention began to shift to Qunu, a remote village in the Eastern Cape — Mr. Mandela’s childhood home — where he is to be buried in a state funeral on Sunday, the last formal moment in a 10-day national mourning period that has confronted many South Africans with questions about the post-Mandela era. But such were the numbers of people who turned out — some camping overnight — that the authorities said many might be turned away by the time the official viewing period came to an end on Friday afternoon.
Military jets roared through the skies over Qunu on Friday in a rehearsal for the state funeral. Hundreds of soldiers lined up along a main highway and a brigade of satellite trucks and cameras sprouted on a hill overlooking this green village as the nation and the world prepared to give Mr. Mandela a final farewell. According to South African officials, an estimated 20,000 people viewed Mr. Mandela’s body on Thursday, moving past at a brisk pace. But on Friday, the government said at least 50,000 people were trying to file past the coffin.
Some estimates put the number of people forming long lines much higher, gathering at screening centers to be bussed to the Union Buildings on a bluff overlooking the capital. Mr. Mandela’s body was lying in state in the amphitheater where he took the oath of office in 1994 as South Africa’s first black president.
“We cannot guarantee that every person who is presently in the queues at the various centers will be given access to the Union Buildings,” the government said in a statement.
Mr. Mandela is to be buried on Sunday in the remote village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape — his childhood home. The state funeral is scheduled to be the last formal moment in a 10-day national mourning period that has confronted many South Africans with questions about the post-Mandela era under the governing African National Congress.
“The A.N.C. must find its way back to the values of Mandela,” Jay Naidoo, a longtime associate of Mr. Mandela, said in a radio talk show, reflecting a sense among some South Africans that the party had strayed. In a clear display of disaffection with the current leadership during a memorial for Mr. Mandela on Tuesday, some in the crowd booed and whistled at President Jacob G. Zuma.
“We have to get back to basics,” Mr. Naidoo said.
As the crowds built in Pretoria, some attention began to shift to Qunu, where military jets roared through the skies on Friday in a rehearsal for the state funeral. Hundreds of soldiers lined up along a main highway and a brigade of satellite trucks and cameras sprouted on a hill overlooking this green village as the nation and the world prepared to give Mr. Mandela a final farewell.
Officials said they were planning for a miles-long procession to Qunu on Saturday from Mthatha Airport, where Mr. Mandela’s body will arrive from Pretoria. Thousands of mourners are expected to line the road in a human chain.Officials said they were planning for a miles-long procession to Qunu on Saturday from Mthatha Airport, where Mr. Mandela’s body will arrive from Pretoria. Thousands of mourners are expected to line the road in a human chain.
Mr. Mandela died on Dec. 5 at age 95 after months of illness that started with a lung infection. As his compatriots mourned his passing — and celebrated his life — in a blend of grief and joy, South Africa has been seized with the protracted process of marking his passing and seeking to secure his legacy. On Friday the government said 25 foreign dignitaries — including the presidents of Malawi and Tanzania, Britain’s Prince Charles and an array of serving and former government leaders — would attend the funeral. The dignitaries will land at the East London Airport, more than a two-hour drive southwest of Qunu.
On Tuesday, scores of global leaders joined tens of thousands at a national memorial ceremony in the vast World Cup soccer stadium in Soweto, the onetime segregated township where bloody protests in 1976 became an emblem of the struggle against white rule.
On Wednesday, some of the same dignitaries led a long procession of mourners as the body was transported from a military morgue for three days of public viewing in the amphitheater outside the Union Buildings where Mr. Mandela took the oath of office in 1994 as South Africa’s first black president.
Such are the numbers of people seeking to pay final respects to Mr. Mandela that authorities told mourners on Friday that they should join the lines by early afternoon or risk being turned away. Some had camped out overnight in what has become a race against time before the coffin is removed. According to South African officials, an estimated 20,000 people viewed Mr. Mandela on Thursday, moving past at a brisk pace. But on Friday, the government said 50,000 people were trying to see the body and the authorities said they could not guarantee that all of them would be able to do so.
No photography has been permitted and the authorities said an image of Mr. Mandela said to have been taken there, which circulated on social media sites, was a fake.
Reflecting some of South Africa’s unresolved political divisions, Julius Malema, a radical leader who has been expelled from the governing African National Congress, led a phalanx of followers to place flowers at Mr. Mandela’s former home, all of them wearing the distinctive red berets of his Economic Freedom Fighters movement.
“We are picking up the spear to continue the struggle,” Mr. Malema said.
On Friday the government said 25 foreign dignitaries — including the presidents of Malawi and Tanzania, Britain’s Prince Charles and an array of serving and former government leaders — would attend the state funeral on Sunday. The dignitaries will land at the East London airport, more than a two-hour drive southwest of Qunu.
More than 4,000 journalists have been accredited to cover the event, officials said, but only the South African Broadcasting Corporation will have access to the funeral. The burial itself will not be televised, following a request from Mr. Mandela’s family, said Harold Maloka, a government spokesman.More than 4,000 journalists have been accredited to cover the event, officials said, but only the South African Broadcasting Corporation will have access to the funeral. The burial itself will not be televised, following a request from Mr. Mandela’s family, said Harold Maloka, a government spokesman.
The security presence has been tight in and around Qunu, with the police setting up roadblocks limiting access into town. A long stretch of the highway from Mthatha to Qunu is scheduled to be closed from Friday night to prepare for the procession.The security presence has been tight in and around Qunu, with the police setting up roadblocks limiting access into town. A long stretch of the highway from Mthatha to Qunu is scheduled to be closed from Friday night to prepare for the procession.
Hundreds of miles to the north, in Johannesburg’s leafy suburb of Houghton, some mourners and well-wishers went to Mr. Mandela’s former home where he died on Dec. 5 at age 95 after months of illness that started with a lung infection. They included Jesse Jackson, who also planned to attend the state funeral in Qunu.
Reflecting some of South Africa’s unresolved political divisions, Julius Malema, a radical leader who has been expelled from the governing African National Congress, led a phalanx of followers to place flowers at Mr. Mandela’s former home, all of them wearing the distinctive red berets of his Economic Freedom Fighters movement.
“We are picking up the spear to continue the struggle,” Mr. Malema said.

John Eligon reported from Qunu, South Africa, and Alan Cowell from London.

John Eligon reported from Qunu, South Africa, and Alan Cowell from London.