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| Thousands Gather in South Africa’s Capital to Get a Final Glimpse of Mandela | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| QUNU, South Africa — For a third and final day, thousands of South Africans filed past the body of Nelson Mandela on Friday before his glass-topped coffin was removed for the last time from the Union Buildings in the capital, Pretoria, where long lines of people waited in the gathering heat to catch a final glimpse of the man they credit with unifying the nation and presiding over the demise of apartheid rule. | QUNU, South Africa — For a third and final day, thousands of South Africans filed past the body of Nelson Mandela on Friday before his glass-topped coffin was removed for the last time from the Union Buildings in the capital, Pretoria, where long lines of people waited in the gathering heat to catch a final glimpse of the man they credit with unifying the nation and presiding over the demise of apartheid rule. |
| To the strains of South Africa’s anthem — “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika,” or “God Bless Africa” — eight military pallbearers lifted the coffin from its catafalque under a temporary shelter in the same amphitheater where, 19 years ago, Mr. Mandela took the oath of office as his country’s first black president. | To the strains of South Africa’s anthem — “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika,” or “God Bless Africa” — eight military pallbearers lifted the coffin from its catafalque under a temporary shelter in the same amphitheater where, 19 years ago, Mr. Mandela took the oath of office as his country’s first black president. |
| The mood was somber as Mandla Mandela, Mr. Mandela’s eldest grandson, who has kept a vigil by the coffin, clambered into a black Mercedes hearse that carried the body to a military mortuary. It is to be flown to the Eastern Cape region on Saturday for a state funeral on Sunday in Qunu, the village where Mr. Mandela grew up. | The mood was somber as Mandla Mandela, Mr. Mandela’s eldest grandson, who has kept a vigil by the coffin, clambered into a black Mercedes hearse that carried the body to a military mortuary. It is to be flown to the Eastern Cape region on Saturday for a state funeral on Sunday in Qunu, the village where Mr. Mandela grew up. |
| According to South African officials, an estimated 20,000 people viewed Mr. Mandela’s body in the capital 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 bused to the Union Buildings on a bluff overlooking the capital. | According to South African officials, an estimated 20,000 people viewed Mr. Mandela’s body in the capital 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 bused to the Union Buildings on a bluff overlooking the capital. |
| Such were the numbers of people who turned out to bid farewell to Mr. Mandela — some camping overnight — that the authorities turned many away long before the official viewing period came to an end Friday afternoon. | Such were the numbers of people who turned out to bid farewell to Mr. Mandela — some camping overnight — that the authorities turned many away long before the official viewing period came to an end Friday afternoon. |
| The state funeral on Sunday in Qunu 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 durability of his legacy in the post-Mandela era. | The state funeral on Sunday in Qunu 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 durability of his legacy in the post-Mandela era. |
| “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, referring to 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, referring to the governing African National Congress. |
| His remarks reflected a sense among many South Africans that the party had strayed far from the course set by Mr. Mandela during his single-term presidency from 1994 to 1999. Many see the party as committed more to its own enrichment than to improving the lives of South Africa’s masses. | His remarks reflected a sense among many South Africans that the party had strayed far from the course set by Mr. Mandela during his single-term presidency from 1994 to 1999. Many see the party as committed more to its own enrichment than to improving the lives of South Africa’s masses. |
| In a clear display of disaffection with the current leadership, some in the crowd at a national memorial for Mr. Mandela in Soweto on Tuesday booed and whistled at President Jacob Zuma. | In a clear display of disaffection with the current leadership, some in the crowd at a national memorial for Mr. Mandela in Soweto on Tuesday booed and whistled at President Jacob Zuma. |
| “We have to get back to basics,” Mr. Naidoo said. | “We have to get back to basics,” Mr. Naidoo said. |
| As the crowds built and then dispersed in Pretoria on Friday, 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. | As the crowds built and then dispersed in Pretoria on Friday, 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. |
| South African news reports said 12,000 military personnel had been deployed for the weekend’s ceremonies. Officials said they were planning for a miles-long procession to Qunu on Saturday from Mthatha airport. Thousands of mourners are expected to line the road in a human chain. | South African news reports said 12,000 military personnel had been deployed for the weekend’s ceremonies. Officials said they were planning for a miles-long procession to Qunu on Saturday from Mthatha airport. Thousands of mourners are expected to line the road in a human chain. |
| On Friday, the government said that 25 foreign dignitaries — including the presidents of Malawi and Tanzania, Prince Charles of Britain and an array of current and former government leaders — would attend the funeral. | On Friday, the government said that 25 foreign dignitaries — including the presidents of Malawi and Tanzania, Prince Charles of Britain and an array of current and former government leaders — would attend the funeral. |
| The security presence has been tight in and around Qunu. 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 the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, some mourners and well-wishers went to Mr. Mandela’s former home, where he died on Dec. 5 at the age of 95 after months of illness that started with a lung infection. | |
| 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. | 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. | “We are picking up the spear to continue the struggle,” Mr. Malema said. |
John Eligon reported from Qunu, and Alan Cowell from London. | John Eligon reported from Qunu, and Alan Cowell from London. |