Wednesday, December 11, 2013

100 world leaders in South Africa for Mandela funeral

South Africa struggled
Monday to meet the unprecedented logistical
challenge of hosting close to 100 world leaders flying
in from every corner of the globe for the state funeral
of freedom icon Nelson Mandela.
"The world literally is coming to South Africa," said
the government's head of public diplomacy, Clayson
Monyela.
"I don't think it has ever happened before," Monyela
said of the wave of 91 leaders, including US President
Barack Obama, bearing down on the country.
Many will join the 80,000 people expected to cram
Tuesday into the FNB stadium in Soweto to take part
in a grand memorial service for their inspirational
first black president.
Reflecting the depth and breadth of Mandela's
popularity, the event will see political foes Obama
and Cuban President Raul Castro share the same
stage in paying tribute to one of the towering
political figures of the 20th century.
South African President Jacob Zuma will make the
keynote address, and other speakers will include UN
Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff.
Four of Mandela's adored grandchildren will speak for
his family, while neither his widow, Graca Machel, nor
his ex-wife Winne Madikizela-Mandela are listed on
the programme.
The memorial service, in the venue where Mandela
made his last major public appearance for the 2010
World Cup final, is seen as a final chance for grieving
South Africans to unite in a mass celebration of his
life ahead of the more formal state funeral.
Some 120,000 people will be able to watch the event
on giant screens set up in three overflow stadiums in
Johannesburg.
'You are never prepared enough'
Although Mandela had been critically ill for months,
the announcement of his death on Thursday night
still rocked a country that had looked to his
unassailable moral authority as a comforting
constant in a time of uncertain social and economic
change.
"I don't think you are ever prepared enough," said
Zelda la Grange, who was Mandela's long-time
personal assistant both during and after his
presidency.
"We had prepared ourselves emotionally but still we
are overcome by this feeling of loss and sadness," La
Grange said.
A single candle was lit in Mandela's tiny prison cell
on Robben Island, where he spent the harshest of his
27 years in apartheid jails, before emerging to lead
his country out of the shadow of apartheid into a
multi-racial democracy.
The week-long observances will culminate Sunday in
Mandela's burial at a family plot in his boyhood home
of Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
The government has sought to dissuade A-list
dignitaries from attending, citing Qunu's rural
location, the lack of amenities and limited space.
Ahead of the burial, Mandela's body will lie in state
for three days from Wednesday in the amphitheatre
of the Union Buildings in Pretoria where he was
sworn in as president in 1994.
Each morning, his coffin will be borne through the
streets of the capital in a funeral cortege, to give as
many people as possible the chance to pay their final
respects.
11,000 troops mobilised
Around 11,000 troops have been mobilised to ensure
security and help with crowd control.
Despite the sudden influx of international dignitaries
and the compressed preparation time, National Police
spokesman Solomon Makgale insisted that the
security apparatus could cope.
"Having so many heads of state is not a security
headache for us. We've learned over the years,"
Makgale said, adding that they would be "working
closely" with the foreign leaders' own security
details.
As well as Obama and three previous occupants of
the White House, British Prime Minister David
Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and
Afghan President Hamid Karzai were all on the guest
list.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was among
the first to arrive, visited the Nelson Mandela
Foundation in Johannesburg where he paid
handsome tribute to a "giant for justice" whose
"mighty life" touched millions.
Parliament met in special session Monday, with MPs
carrying single red roses as they entered the
assembly building that was flanked by giant portraits
of Mandela in tribal dress and as an elder statesman.
Opposition leader Helen Zille said every politician
had a duty to carry forward Mandela's ideals of
justice and equality for all.
"He has handed the baton to us and we dare not drop
it," Zille said.
Africa will be represented at the funeral by Nigeria's
Goodluck Jonathan and more than a dozen other
heads of state and government.
Notable absentees include Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited high travel and
security costs, and Mandela's fellow Nobel peace
laureate, the Dalai Lama, who since 2009 has twice
been denied a visa for South Africa.
Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and singer-activist
Bono, as well as British billionaire Richard Branson
and musician Peter Gabriel were expected to be
among the celebrity mourners.

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