Around 5,000 guests, including the Prince of Wales, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and the American civil rights activist Jesse James, at the service in his hometown of Qunu in Eastern Cape province this morning, before a private, smaller burial.
After 10 days of mourning ceremonies, including the massive stadium memorial in Johannesburg and three days of his body laying in state in Pretoria, representatives from the army, navy and air force marched up the dirt road to the Mandela family compound.
Anti-apartheid leader and South Africa's first black President died in his Johannesburg home on December 5, at the age of 95.
The current president of his country, Jacob Zuma told mourners Madiba, as he was adoringly called, was 'a fountain of wisdom, a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope for all those fighting for a just and equitable world order.’
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Final
journey: The coffin carrying former South African President Nelson
Mandela is escorted into his state funeral service in Qunu this morning
Tradition:
Mandela's casket, covered in the nation's flag, was placed on a cattle
skin as the service combined elements of traditional and state funerals
Display:
The coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela is seen
draped in a South African national flag during his funeral in his
ancestral village of Qunu
Respect: Candles are lit under a portrait of Nelson Mandela before his funeral. One for every year of his life
Honor: A gun salute is fired as the funeral procession nears the Mandela family compound
Dignitaries: Prince Charles, right, arrives for the state funeral on Sunday
Historic figure: Thousands of people are paying tribute to South Africa 's first black president
An ox was to be slaughtered, the deceased was wrapped in a leopard skin and a family elder continued to talk to the body's spirit throughout the service. The occasion also included elements more often seen in a Christian burial and at a state funeral, including prayers and the national anthem.
The leopard skin signifies Mandela's status as a high-ranking official. Because he was also a former statesman, the casket was covered in the flag.
Following a tradition called Thetha, Xhosa culture requires a family elder to stay with Mandela's body and explain to his spirit what is happening.
'When the body lies there, the spirit is still alive,' the Rev Wesley Mabuza, chairman of South Africa's Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the right of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, said.
Mandela's widow Graca Machel arrived ahead of the casket to honor the tradition of being home to receive his body.
As the coffin arrived in the white tent for the state funeral, all guests except the family stood, and the choir sung Lizalis' idinga Iakho.
It was placed in the centre of the domed tent, on top of a cattle skin. His widow, Machel, and first wife, Winnie Mandela, then walked into the tent hand in hand. His children from both marriages were sat in the front row, with president Jacob Zuma between them.
Family said they had been reuniting by Machel and Winnie's show of friendship.
A central feature in the tent was a large picture of Mandela, placed behind 95 lit candles, one for each year of his long and full life.
But he left us to 'join the A-team of the ANC,' Kathrada said, as he named those who alongside Mandela had struggled for freedom.
He added: 'It is up to the present generation and generations to come to take up the cudgels when you have left, and take up the challenges South Africa faces today.'
Over the past week it has sometimes seemed that everyone was trying to claim a piece of the great man – and that dignity was sometimes lacking – but he was at last back among his own people. In the little time left before he is committed to the ground today, the elders of his tribe have promised to do things differently.
State funeral: Mandela's coffin is carried into the white tent for the service
Support: African National Congress supporters chant before the start of the funeral
Dignitaries: Anti-apartheid activist and friend Ahmed Kathrada, right, with former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki
Deputy leader of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the funeral, explaining that in accordance with cultural traditions, they planned to lay Mandela to rest at noon 'When the sun is at hits highest and shadows are at its shortest'.
He told the mourners he agreed with president Jacob Zuma, who called Mandela South Africa's greatest son: 'Indeed today, the person who lies here today is South Africa's greatest son.'
Ramaphosa also welcomed royalty and presidents from Africa and around the world, including Prince Charles, and the Prince of Monaco.
When Chief Ngangamhlaba Matanzima, a cousin and spokesman for the Mandela family addressed the service he criticised those who had booed President Zuma during the memorial at the stadium. He added that the fake sign language interpreter had been an embarrassment to the nation.
Wearing a leopard skin to show his status as a chief, Matanzima asked the medical team who cared for Mandela to stand while they were applauded.
The next speaker was Ahmed Kathrada, a friend and anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned alongside Mandela on Robben Island for more than 20 years.
He spoke fondly of his last meeting with Mandela, and how it brought back memories of when they first met 67 years ago, when he was a 'tall, healthy, strong man. The boxer, the prisoner who easily wielded the pick and shovel ... and vigorously exercised every morning.'
United
in grief: Mandela's widow Graca Machel, above, and his former wife
Winnie, below, arrived holding hands and sat together for the service
Mourners:
US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, centre, her husband Stedman Graham,
left, and English businessman Richard Branson, right, watching the
funeral service
Traditional: Mandla Mandela right, grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela, during his grandfather's funeral
'As everyone here would see it, the world's most famous prisoner, this country's first black president, is now home,' BBC correspondent Mike Woolridge tweeted.
Final goodbye: The flag-draped casket of South Africa's first black president arrives in Mandela's village
Coming home: A parade of servicemen lead the casket to the funeral
Home
at last: Military officers and Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla
Mandela, rear, accompany the casket of the former South African
President as it arrives in Qunu
Journey's
end: The hearse carrying the coffin of former South African president
Nelson Mandela passes by the tent dome set up in Qunu for his funeral
Tradition:
Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, right, watches as local chiefs
escort the lion skin draped casket of former South African President as
it arrives at the Mandela residence in Qunu
Winnie
Mandela (left), ex-wife of former South African President, and Graca
Macel, widow of Mandela, wipe away tears as his flag-draped coffin
arrives at the Mthata airport
Accompanied by family members, tribal elders and senior government figures, the coffin was then flown 550 miles to Mthatha airport, about 20 miles from Qunu.
Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel, and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela travelled separately from the coffin, in accordance with tribal tradition, and were seen comforting each other as it arrived.
A
military guard of honour stands to attention at the Mandela family's
homestead in Qunu. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid
struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of
the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95
From
the airport, a hearse carried Mandela through the town, where crowds
lined the route ten deep, then along Nelson Mandela Road and into the
open countryside of green hills and red-flowering Cape Aloe.There were helicopters, armoured personnel vehicles, expensive cars – which all seemed to have blue lights, whether they contained police officers or not – and an endless stream of motorcycle outriders, some in white uniforms.
Just before 4pm the hearse swept down a gentle slope overlooking a restful scene: the hills and valleys where Mandela roamed as a boy, gathering wild honey, stick-fighting with friends and herding cattle.
Women
hold ANC flags and banners as the long convoy bringing Mandela's body
home finally arrives in Qunu. As police and military helicopters buzzed
overheard, mourners broke into the South African national anthem as the
cortège appeared
A
last look at the father of the nation: Locals take photos as Mandela's
hearse nears Qunu, a small hamlet in South Africa's Eastern Cape
province where he grew up
The crowd linked hands at the sides of the freshly tarmacked road and mouthed goodbyes as the hearse passed by. Some whistled with excitement. But no one cheered, no one screamed.
Farther up the highway a group of children busied themselves slaughtering a sheep. Qunu was celebrating the return of its revered son.
The military here relinquished control of proceedings and the elders took over. Inside Mandela’s peach-coloured farmhouse, a centuries-old ceremony was performed. The most senior elder ‘spoke to the body’ and, to ensure the spirit of the anti-apartheid hero would enter the next world untroubled, apologised for any past disagreements.
Hero:
A woman raises her fist in salute as she watches the hearse carrying
her country's first black president drive by on the way to his final
resting place
Locals
cheers as Mandela arrives: Iit was escorted by an enormous convoy of
police, military and other vehicles, many flashing emergency lights,
arriving at about 4pm local time after going past cheering crowds who
had lined the route to pay their respects
A small branch from an olive tree was kept near the body. It was brought by air from Qunu soon after Mandela died on December 5 at his home in the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Houghton. It was used by an elder to address his spirit and persuade him to return to Qunu.
Mandela’s house in the village is modest and contains souvenirs of his life since he was freed. Dominating one wall is an outsized portrait of himself and Graca.
Loved
by the people: The motorcade transporting Mandela's body passes through
crowds of mourners gathered in the town of Mthatha on its way to Qunu
While Qunu thoroughly approves of the Prince of Wales, politicians – with the exception of Mandela – are not particularly popular among the 500 inhabitants.
It is because of the presence of so many government ministers, diplomats and overseas leaders that many local people have been excluded from attending the funeral.
‘In our culture it is disrespectful for us not to go, but there is nothing we can do about it, and that is very upsetting,’ said Simesihile Sohaye.
It wasn’t just the locals who were left out. Unfathomably, retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mandela’s long-time friend and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has not been invited. Some political observers speculated that his criticism of the governing ANC was at the root of the snub.
'Long
live the spirit of Nelson Mandela': The crowds chanted old songs and
slogans from the anti-apartheid struggle as they watched the body of
Mandela roll past
Africa:
Young women dance by the roadside in the small village of Queque, near
Qunu, as they wait to watch the funeral procession to sweep by
‘Had I or my office been informed I would be welcome there is no way on earth I would have missed it.’
Tutu, 82, said he had cancelled his plans to fly to the Eastern Cape after receiving no indication that his name was on the guest list. In an apparent U-turn last night, president Jacob Zuma’s office insisted Tutu would be allowed to attend.
‘If he had called, we would have given him accreditation. They would never have turned Tutu away. There were no malicious shenanigans,’ said a spokeswoman.
Prince Charles’s place among the mourners, however, is assured. He will be among a group of 430 to actually see Mandela buried in a hillside opposite his home, near the graves of relatives.
Patriotism:
Mourners wave and cheer as the hearse transporting the flag-draped
casket containing Mandela's body as it passes through the town of
Mthatha
High
security: Soldiers in full combat gear, male and female, were stationed
on foot on either side of the road from the airport in Mthatha
Paying
respects: Thousands of mourners line the streets of Umthatha as the
enormous convoy of police, military and other vehicles sweeps through
their town
Mandela and the people of this remote region are from the Thembu tribe of the Xhosa ethnic group and have a royal family of their own, of which Mandela was a member.
‘Prince Charles has a great sense of tradition,’ said Ms Yorkwana. ‘I’m sure he will be very interested in the service.’
And unlike certain world leaders, the Queen’s eldest son will, of course, resist the urge to whip out his mobile for a ‘selfie’.
Figurehead:
A South African mourner embraces a poster of Mandela, while waiting
with other mourners for the motorcade transporting the body of the
former president to pass by in the town of Mthatha. Right, Khanyile Diko
cheers while wearing a T-shirt depicting the liberation hero as a scarf
around his neck
Crowds
of mourners cheer as they await the motorcade: Mandela languished in
jail for 27 years for his opposition to the racist apartheid regime.
Freed in 1990, he emerged to forge a new democratic South Africa by
promoting forgiveness and reconciliation
By early evening, mourners were leaving Mandela’s house after a supper and informal speeches of thanks to the doctors who took care of him.
Mandela’s eldest grandson and heir, Mandla, helped staff move huge bouquets of white lilies from the house to the adjoining marquee for the service.
As well as Christian hymns, it will include Xhosa singing and dancing accompanied by the explosive sound of the Igbo drum. Poems about Mandela’s life and achievements will also be read.
‘It will be a very special occasion,’ said 19-year-old Sibabale Ketwa. ‘He was such an inspiration. I am working hard at school and I hope that like him I can leave this area and go on to do great things. Well, maybe not quite as great as him.’
A
celebration of life: Mourners sing, wave their national flag and hold
up posters of Mandela as they wait for his funeral cortège to appear
Full
military honours: Fighter jets escort the military plane carrying the
coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela as it is flown
to Mandela's home in the village of Qunu, Eastern Cape
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