14 Dec 2013

Mandela memorial service for ANC members

10:09 pm on 14 December 2013

Nelson Mandela's coffin has set off for his ancestral home in Qunu, where his state funeral will be held on Sunday ending a week of commemorations.

One of those at the farewell service was Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela.

One of those at the farewell service was Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela. Photo: AFP

The coffin left a mortuary in Pretoria and arrived at a local air base for a farewell ceremony for ANC members.

More than 1000 ANC members including President Jacob Zuma are attending the ceremony at the Waterkloof air base.

The BBC reports that among those invited are also US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and Ireland's Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

After the ceremony the coffin will be flown to Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape ahead of the burial in Qunu.

Thousands turn out to pay tribute

Many mourners had to be turned away after the three-day period for Nelson Mandela to lie in state ended because the queues were too long.

About 100,000 people managed to pay homage to South Africa's first black president over the three days, with 50,000 paying respects on Friday alone.

Long queues formed on the last day Mr Mandela's body lay in state.

Long queues formed on the last day Mr Mandela's body lay in state. Photo: AFP

Tens of thousands paid their respects over three days.

Tens of thousands paid their respects over three days. Photo: AFP

But many were unable to get close to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and there were moments of tension as they tried to break through entry points, Reuters reports.

At one of the park-and-ride facilities set up to take mourners to the area the crowd broke through the metal entrance gate when officers tried to stop people coming through. Some fell to the ground and hundreds streamed past before order was restored.

Winding queues had snaked for kilometres from the government site perched on a hill overlooking the city, well into the heart of the capital.

Filing past the coffin, some pausing to bow, mourners viewed the body laid out in a green and gold batik shirt, a style that he wore and had made famous. His face was visible.

South Africa's first black president, who died last week aged 95, is to be buried on Sunday at his ancestral home in Qunu in Eastern Cape province.

The week of mourning since Mandela's death on 5 December has seen an unrivalled outpouring of emotion for the statesman and Nobel peace laureate, who was honoured by a host of world leaders at a memorial service in Johannesburg on Tuesday.