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Nelson Mandela's final journey home draws thousands to line the roads Nelson Mandela's final journey home draws thousands to line the roads
(about 1 hour later)
Nelson Mandela's coffin lay in his childhood home of Qunu on Saturday, draped in the flag of the new South Africa that he helped to create; the colours of the African National Congress, which he led to power; and the skin of a lion, an honour normally reserved for kings of his native Xhosa people.Nelson Mandela's coffin lay in his childhood home of Qunu on Saturday, draped in the flag of the new South Africa that he helped to create; the colours of the African National Congress, which he led to power; and the skin of a lion, an honour normally reserved for kings of his native Xhosa people.
The funeral cortege of the country's first democratically elected president was met by a popular honour guard of ordinary South Africans, who lined the 20-mile final homecoming from the provincial city of Mthatha to Qunu. The plain black hearse, declining to slow down even for a moment, was greeted with cheers and whoops and ululations as if for a film star walking down the red carpet. For many, even the fleeting glimpse had been worth the long wait behind a blue line of police. The funeral cortege of the country's first democratically elected president was met by a popular honour guard of ordinary South Africans, who lined the 20-mile final homecoming from the provincial city of Mthatha to Qunu.
The plain black hearse, declining to slow down even for a moment, was greeted with cheers and whoops and ululations as if for a film star walking down the red carpet. For many, even the fleeting glimpse had been worth the long wait behind a blue line of police.
Bonga Dlali, 32, brought his two-year-old twins so that they would later be able to say they had been there. "It's final closure for most of us," he said. "This is the last time we'll come close to the gentleman who inspired so many things."Bonga Dlali, 32, brought his two-year-old twins so that they would later be able to say they had been there. "It's final closure for most of us," he said. "This is the last time we'll come close to the gentleman who inspired so many things."
In the different coloured faces among the army, navy and air force personnel who lined the Mthatha airstrip to receive his coffin, there were signs of the transformation that Mandela wrought after emerging from 27 years in prison under white rule. Even the cortege offered reminders of the sometimes violent anti-apartheid struggle as his hearse was accompanied by the once notorious Casspir armoured personnel carriers. Known as "hippos" in the apartheid-era townships, the vehicles were often used to crush riots and sometimes people. In the different coloured faces among the army, navy and air force personnel who lined the Mthatha airstrip to receive his coffin, there were signs of the transformation that Mandela wrought after emerging from 27 years in prison under white rule.
Even the cortege offered reminders of the sometimes violent anti-apartheid struggle as his hearse was accompanied by the once notorious Casspir armoured personnel carriers. Known as "hippos" in the apartheid-era townships, the vehicles were often used to crush riots and sometimes people.
Outside the Mandela family's imposing home in Qunu, villagers, who were heavily outnumbered by security forces, gamely waved and called out "Aah Dalibhunga", meaning "welcome home" in Xhosa.Outside the Mandela family's imposing home in Qunu, villagers, who were heavily outnumbered by security forces, gamely waved and called out "Aah Dalibhunga", meaning "welcome home" in Xhosa.
Earlier in the day, the ruling ANC party had bid its farewell in a sombre ceremony at the Waterkloof air base outside Pretoria before the coffin was put aboard a military transport plane and flown to Mthatha. Mandela's widow, Graça Machel, dressed in the mourning black she must wear for the next year according to the Xhosa custom of ukuzila, wept and wiped tears from under her glasses. A stricken looking Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his former wife, sat nearby. There was none of the raucousness of Tuesday's memorial service in Soweto where South Africa's President Jacob Zuma was booed when he spoke. This time a handful of party apparatchiks were seen to sleep through a half-hour speech. Earlier in the day, the ruling ANC party had bid its farewell in a sombre ceremony at the Waterkloof air base outside Pretoria before the coffin was put aboard a military transport plane and flown to Mthatha. Mandela's widow, Graça Machel, dressed in the mourning black she must wear for the next year according to the Xhosa custom of ukuzila, wept and wiped tears from under her glasses.
But the government managed another own goal to match the scandal of the fake sign-language interpreter as a row erupted when Mandela's friend and fellow Nobel laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said that he would not be attending Sunday's funeral service and burial because he had not been invited. "Much as I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I love and treasured," the former cleric said in a statement, "it would have been disrespectful to Tata to gatecrash what was billed as a private family funeral." A stricken looking Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his former wife, sat nearby. There was none of the raucousness of Tuesday's memorial service in Soweto where South Africa's President Jacob Zuma was booed when he spoke. This time a handful of party apparatchiks were seen to sleep through a half-hour speech.
But late on Saturday night his spokesman said that he had decided to travel to the funeral after all, after the government scrambled to dispel the impression that Tutu, whom many see as South Africa's moral compass following the death of Mandela, had been excluded because of his record of criticising a notoriously thin-skinned administration. The prelate spoke at the funerals of anti-apartheid heroes Steve Biko, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo. But the government managed another own goal to match the scandal of the fake sign-language interpreter as a row erupted when Mandela's friend and fellow Nobel laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said early in the day that he would not be attending Sunday's funeral service and burial because he had not been invited. "Much as I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I love and treasured," the former cleric said in a statement, "it would have been disrespectful to Tata to gatecrash what was billed as a private family funeral."
Mac Maharaj, the spokesman for the presidency, denied any conspiracy to exclude the outspoken former archbishop and said he was invited: "He's an important person and I hope ways can be found for him to be there." But late on Saturday night his spokesman said that he had decided to travel to the funeral after all, after the government scrambled to dispel the impression that Tutu, whom many see as South Africa's moral compass following the death of Mandela, had been excluded because of his record of criticising a notoriously thin-skinned administration. The prelate spoke at the funerals of anti-apartheid heroes Steve Biko, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo. Mac Maharaj, the spokesman for the presidency, denied any conspiracy to exclude the outspoken former archbishop and said he was invited: "He's an important person and I hope ways can be found for him to be there."
The heavy security around the funeral has upset some Qunu residents. The day in the sleepy village began with another funeral – that of Gertrude Kwatshe, a local woman who died last week. Police had barged in on the ceremony and tried to have it postponed, complained Limwall Limza, one of the mourners: "We buried her anyway. I don't think the old man would have minded."The heavy security around the funeral has upset some Qunu residents. The day in the sleepy village began with another funeral – that of Gertrude Kwatshe, a local woman who died last week. Police had barged in on the ceremony and tried to have it postponed, complained Limwall Limza, one of the mourners: "We buried her anyway. I don't think the old man would have minded."
On Sunday morning, 11 days after the 95-year-old died following a long illness at his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, the final service will commence in an immense marquee on the hillside. Prince Charles and the American civil rights champion the Rev Jesse Jackson are among the handful of international invitees expected to attend the two-hour ceremony.On Sunday morning, 11 days after the 95-year-old died following a long illness at his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, the final service will commence in an immense marquee on the hillside. Prince Charles and the American civil rights champion the Rev Jesse Jackson are among the handful of international invitees expected to attend the two-hour ceremony.
At 10am local time, the close family will repair to a separate area where the casket will be lowered into the ground alongside his parents and the three of his children whose deaths had haunted him in his final years.At 10am local time, the close family will repair to a separate area where the casket will be lowered into the ground alongside his parents and the three of his children whose deaths had haunted him in his final years.
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