Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mourning Mandela
Thousands file past casket; body to lie in state 2 more days
South African President Jacob Zuma (center) pays his respects Wednesday at the flag-draped casket containing the body of Nelson Mandela as it lies in state in Pretoria, South Africa. Long lines formed to pass by the anti-apartheid leader’s casket, and many mourners were told to wait for another chance to view the body over the next two days.
PRETORIA, South Africa — World leaders and thousands of South Africans on Wednesday filed past the flag-draped casket containing the body of Nelson Mandela, having a final look at the anti- apartheid icon in the amphitheater where he was sworn in 19 years earlier as the country’s first black president.
Some made the sign of the cross, others simply gazed at Mandela’s face through a glass bubble atop the coffin at the Union Buildings, the government offices in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
Mandela was dressed in a black and yellow patterned shirt, a trademark style that he adopted as a statesman. His eyes were closed. His white hair was swept up from his forehead.
Mandela family members and world leaders viewed the body Wednesday morning. By the afternoon, long lines had formed to see the casket. At one point, the government said a “cutoff ” point had been reached for the day, and it urged people to arrive early over the next two days to get their chance to view the body.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, South African President Jacob Zuma and other leaders passed by the casket in two lines. Four junior naval officers in white uniforms kept watch nearby. Celebrities including singer Bono of the band U2 also paid their respects. So did F.W. de Klerk, the last president of white rule who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for ending the apartheid era.
“I hope that his focus on lasting reconciliation will live and bloom in South Africa,” de Klerk said.
Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel, his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and other family members also viewed his body.
Police officers were a few steps away, one holding a box of tissues. One woman covered her entire face, weeping as she walked away supported by a colleague. Others carried posters bearing the image of Mandela, who died Dec. 5 at the age of 95.
“I’m lost. My mind is lost,” said Silver Mogotlane after passing by the casket.
“It’s amazing to think that 19 years ago he was inaugurated there, and now he’s lying there,” said another viewer, Paul Letageng. “If he was not here we would not have had peace in South Africa.”
Mandela emerged from 27 years in prison under the white government in 1990, appealed for forgiveness and reconciliation, and became president in 1994 after the country’s first all-race democratic elections. He gave his inaugural address from the amphitheater, which Zuma named after him by decree Tuesday.
Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings, atop a hill overlooking Pretoria. Officials have banned cameras from the viewing area and asked people to turn off mobile phones.
Each day, Mandela’s coffin will be driven back to 1 Military Hospital to be held overnight. Authorities asked the public to line the street as an honor guard for each trip.
Mandela’s body will be flown Saturday to Qunu, his home in the Eastern Cape province. He will be buried Sunday.
A memorial service attended by nearly 100 world leaders was held for Mandela at a Johannesburg stadium Tuesday. Police said Wednesday that retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s home in Cape Town was robbed while he was away, attending the memorial. An investigation was underway.
Like Mandela, Tutu, 82, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote basic rights and reconciliation during the apartheid era.
Meanwhile, advocates for the deaf said Wednesday that the sign-language interpreter on stage at the globally broadcast memorial service was a faker who was waving his arms around meaninglessly. The allegation raised questions of how and why he managed to insert himself into the supposedly secure event attended by scores of heads of state, including U.S. President Barack Obama.
The unidentified man, who stood about a yard from Obama and other leaders, “was moving his hands around, but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for,” said Bruno Druchen, the deaf federation’s national director.
The man also did sign interpretation at an event last year that was attended by Zuma, Druchen said. The federation submitted a formal complaint to the governing African National Congress party but received no response, Druchen said.
Druchen said a fresh complaint will be filed to the African National Congress with a demand for an urgent meeting. The federation does not know the identity of the man.
Collins Chabane, one of South Africa’s two presidency ministers, said the government is investigating “alleged incorrect use of sign language at the National Memorial Service,” but it has been overwhelmed with work organizing the viewing of Mandela’s body.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a memorial service for Mandela attended by members of Congress, civil-rights leaders and others at the Washington National Cathedral.
Biden said Mandela taught the world that trust, justice and reconciliation are possible, and that change can happen.