PhotoSpeaks: South Africa Prepares For Nelson Mandela's Funeral, Memorial; Pope Francis, President Obama, George Bush, Other World Leaders To Attend
Nelson Mandela, a descendant of Thembu tribal royalty, will get a funeral fit for a king.
Ten days of official mourning have been declared for the beloved leader of the fight that toppled racist apartheid in South Africa.
During that time, there will be a series of wrenching memorials attended by international heads of state, captains of industry, a constellation of Hollywood stars — and millions of grateful South Africans.
Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, and British Prime Minister David Cameron are also expected to attend parts of the Mandela memorial, although it wasn’t clear whether they would attend the actual funeral.
A flower and thank-you letter left for Nelson Mandela in Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday.
It will be capped by a state funeral on the grounds of Mandela’s home in the village of Qunu that is expected to be attended by scores of world leaders and thousands of regular folk.
The South African military will be locking down the village with a tight security cordon and the service will be broadcast to millions of mourners around the world.
“This will be the biggest funeral, possibly, that the world has seen and security will be at the appropriate level,”
Clayson Monyela, spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told The Star newspaper in Johannesburg on Friday. “Representatives from most countries, at the highest level, will be here.”
But when Mandela’s coffin is finally lowered into the rocky ground, it will be in the presence of just family, and it will be shrouded by a traditional blanket of the Xhosa people to symbolize Mandela’s return home.
“We will spend the week mourning his passing,” South African President Jacob Zuma told his heartbroken countrymen. “We will also spend it celebrating a life well-lived, a life that we must emulate for the betterment of our country.”
“We always loved Madiba for teaching us that it was possible to overcome hatred and anger in order to build a new nation and a new society,” the president added, referring to Mandela by his clan name.
Mandela, 95, died Thursday at his home outside Johannesburg after a long battle with lung infections and other ailments stemming from the tuberculosis he contracted during his 27 years in prison.
The South African government — and Mandela’s family — have been planning his sendoff for months, in anticipation of the national and international outpouring of grief for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Mandela’s body was collected Friday by a gleaming black hearse for the first leg of what will be his final journey.
Across the once racially riven country that Mandela made whole, flags flew at half-staff in memory of their first black president.
Mandela’s body was taken to a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria, where it will be embalmed,
During that time, Thembu tribal leaders will perform a ceremony called The Closing of the Eyes, during which they will talk with Mandela and commune with his ancestors to ease his passage to the hereafter.
Mandela’s ultimate destination is Qunu — the rural village in the Eastern Cape province where he grew up and where a state funeral is planned for Dec. 15.
President Obama, along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, are expected to join world leaders from across the globe and pay homage to the revolutionary-turned-reconciler, South African newspapers reported.
Mandela forged a close personal relationship with Clinton. And while Bush and Mandela broke over the South African’s deep opposition to the Iraq War, the two leaders bonded over the fight against AIDS in Africa.
Mandela, who is survived by his third wife, Graca Machel, had six children.
And at midday on the funeral, when the sun is at its highest and all the presidents and plutocrats and stars have gone away, Mandela’s body will be returned to the earth while his family looks on.
Celebrities who were close to Mandela like U2 singer Bono, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Naomi Campbell are also expected to make appearances.
Qunu is an unlikely setting for a state funeral, but it was a place dear to Mandela.
Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days — in a glass-topped coffin — at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, while official memorial services are held in all nine of South Africa’s provinces.
Nelson Mandela's daughter Zindzi seen leaving her hotel in London on Friday.
Nelson Mandela's body is transported by van, and will lie in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa.
Nelson Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe outside her father’s home in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday.
The final destination of Nelson Mandela's body is Qunu, the rural village in the Eastern Cape province where he grew up and where a state funeral is planned for Dec. 15. His home in Qunu is seen here.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, seen here in Cape Town, remembers his friend Nelson Mandela.
STRINGER/REUTERS
Mourners on Friday flocked to Nelson Mandela’s Johannesburg home to pay respect to the beloved leader. .
The Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela's body will lie in state for three days, while official memorial services are held in all nine of South Africa's provinces.
Nelson Mandela's family's graveyard in Qunu, Eastern Cape. Mandela's body will be buried in the family plot.
“We call upon all our people to gather in halls, churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and in their homes for prayer services and meditation, reflecting on the life of Madiba and his contribution to our country and the world,” Zuma declared.
Ihsaan Haffejee/Reuters
South Africans release 95 balloons into the sky in honor of Nelson Mandela, who passed away Thursday at 95 years old.
JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images
Mourners carry a South African flag surrounded by world flags as they gather to honor Nelson Mandela at an interfaith service on Friday, held at the Grand Parade in Cape Town, where Mandela made his first speech as a free man in 1990.
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