Rest in peace Mandela, 'South Africa's greatest son'

Rest in peace Mandela, 'South Africa's greatest son' - Times LIVE: " Former president Nelson Mandela's epic journey ended in his ancestral village on Sunday as family and fellow African politicians laid him to rest in the remote hills of Qunu. 

After a tearful funeral service, only a few hundred mourners accompanied his coffin to the cemetery. He was buried beside his parents following a final military salute for the man whose death plunged South Africans into mass mourning.

In his eulogy, President Jacob Zuma acknowledged the disquiet voiced in the past 10 days over the future of the democracy Mandela founded.

"We did not want to confront the reality of your mortality," he told 4500 guests at the funeral service, held in a flower-filled marquee on the Mandela family property.

"As your journey ends today, ours must continue in earnest. One thing we can assure you of today, Tata, as you take your final steps, is that South Africa will continue to rise," he said.


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Mandela's long walk comes to end

Mandela's long walk comes to end | News24: "Nelson Mandela was buried on Sunday in the African ground he loved after a funeral ceremony that included a 21-gun salute and fly-overs by military aircraft, as well as a eulogy by a traditional leader.

Mandela's casket was lowered into the earth after military pallbearers carried it to the family gravesite in the rolling hills of Qunu.

TV broadcasts showed Mandela's casket at the family gravesite, but the broadcasting was stopped just before the coffin was buried at the request of the Mandela family.

It was SA's final goodbye to the man who reconciled the country in its most volatile period."

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Zuma vows to continue Mandela's legacy

Zuma vows to continue Mandela's legacy | News | National | Mail & Guardian: "As the world bid Nelson Mandela farewell on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma vowed to carry on his legacy of reconciliation.

"One thing we can assure you as you take your final step, is that South Africa will continue to do [what you wished for]. We will not rest until the majority [of our people] benefit from the fruits of freedom you fought for so hard," said Zuma who has been under pressure to step down because he failed to live up to Madiba's legacy.

Delivering his eulogy at Mandela funeral in Qunu on Sunday, Zuma said: "We will continue to work hard to reduce unemployment and inequality, create decent jobs and [an] accountable public service. We pledge today to continue promoting non-racialism and tolerance in our country and to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all. "

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From the villages they trek to say farewell

From the villages they trek to say farewell - South Africa | IOL News | IOL.co.za: "Eulogised throughout the week as a global icon, statesman, father of the nation, ANC leader, the commander-in-chief of both the SANDF and MK, on Sunday, the son of Qunu, the chief of Mvezo is home for his final rest.

It was in this part of the world that the first black president was born, and it is here that the village becomes the gateway to his legacy for all the world.

His gravesite is perched atop a hill on his expansive Qunu farm estate and he will be laid to his final rest on Sunday near his son Makgatho Mandela - Mandla Mandela’s father - Madiba’s eldest son Thembekile and Mandela’s first daughter Makaziwe.

It is here in Qunu that the sound of sadness could be heard. It is here that his journey comes full circle. Even though the villagers welcomed their chief, it was the commander-in-chief who took off at Waterkloof Air Force Base and landed at Mthatha airport. The man of peace, the reconciler, was sent off not by men of the cloth, but by the generals of the armed forces."

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Tutu arrives in Mthatha for Mandela funeral

Tutu arrives in Mthatha for Mandela funeral | News24: "Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu has arrived in Mthatha with Minister in Presidency Trevor Manuel to attend the funeral of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, eNCA has twitted.

Tutu had earlier said he would not go to Qunu because the government had not made him feel welcome and he did not want to "gatecrash" the funeral of his longtime ally and friend."

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Madiba home at last

Madiba home at last - Eastern Cape | IOL News | IOL.co.za: "South Africa today will sing the last song, cry, mourn and pray as the founding father of South Africa’s democracy, Nelson Mandela, is laid to rest.

His special place, where Madiba’s mortal remains will be committed, is 2.2m deep and is fortified by a special concrete mix that was poured into the grave to stop the soil from pushing up his coffin.

At 2pm on Sunday, after a funeral service and traditional rites that will last four hours, Mandela’s coffin, draped in the South African flag, will be lowered into the grave, watched by his grieving widow Graça Machel, his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mandela’s last journey starts at 7am on Sunday, when the body would leave his Qunu house and make a two-hour procession along a 1.5km stretch to the koppie, or hill, where the funeral and burial were to take place.

More than 20 heads of state as well as the South African cabinet, led by President Jacob Zuma, were due to attend the service."

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Winnie Mandela would 'do it all over again' for a liberated South Africa

Winnie Mandela would 'do it all over again' for a liberated South Africa - ITV News: "In an exclusive interview with ITV News, Winnie Mandela said she would make the same sacrifices and "do it all over again" to ensure the liberation of South Africa.

Speaking to ITV News presenter Mark Austin, Ms Mandela said: "I would do that 100 times more. I need to go back to those days.

"We had to fight that bitter struggle. I would do it all over again. There is no greater reward than the one we both had of a liberated South Africa"."

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