On a final journey to his home village where he had wanted to spend his final days, the remains of Nelson Mandela were honored amid pomp and ceremony on Saturday at Waterkloof Air Base on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa before being loaded onto a plane
At a solemn ceremony at Waterkloof air base in Pretoria that was broadcast live on South African television, a multi-faith service and a musical tribute to Mandela were held. President Jacob Zuma praised Mandela in a detailed recounting of the struggle against racist white rule. He also described Mandela coming to Johannesburg from the countryside as a young man and bringing discipline and vision to the long and difficult anti-apartheid movement
The flag-draped coffin was accompanied by a military honour guard as it
was slowly transferred onto a military plane for transport to the
Eastern Cape
Mandela’s widow Graca Machel, wearing black, wept and wiped tears from
under her glasses
Mandela’s former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela,
looking stricken, was also there as well as Kenyan President Uhuru
Kenyatta and former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Other members
of the extended Mandela family also attended
The body of Nelson Mandela arrived on Saturday afternoon at his ancestral home of Qunu in South Africa's Eastern Cape
Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela watches as local chiefs drape
the casket of with a lion skin as it arrives at Mandela's ancestral
residence in Qunu.
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