The world lost a great man when last Thursday we lost Nelson Mandela.
A dazzling mix of royalty, statesmen and celebrities were in attendance at his memorial service.
Among thousands of attendees, Thabo Mbeki, former South African president who succeeded Mandela, got a rousing cheer as he entered the stands. French President Francois Hollande and his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy both arrived together. United Nations Secretay-General Ban Ki-moon waved to spectators who sang praise for Mandela who was seen by many South Africans as the father of the nation. Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel and former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela were at the stadium and gave each other a long hug before the ceremonies began. President Obama along with former Presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George W Bush were also there. Present South African President Jacob Zuma, along with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were also there. This list is just too long to encompass here.
South Africa’s last apartheid-era president, F.W. de Klerk, who received a joint Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for their efforts to bring peace to their country was also in the stadium. Mandela had said in his Nobel acceptance speech that “we live with the hope that as she battles to remake herself, South Africa will be like a microcosm of the new world that is striving to be born.”
The sounds of horns and cheering filled the stadium. The rain, seen as a blessing among South Africa’s majority black population, enthused the crowd. “In our culture the rain is a blessing,” said Harry Tshabalala, a driver for the justice ministry. “Only great, great people are memorialized with it. Rain is life. This is perfect weather for us on this occasion.”
President Obama implored the thousands of people gathered in the stadium and millions watching around the world to continue Nelson Mandela’s mission of erasing injustice and inequality. In a speech that received thunderous applause and a standing ovation at FNB stadium in Johannesburg, Obama called on people to apply the lessons of Mandela, who emerged from 27 years in prison under a racist regime, embraced his enemies when he finally walked to freedom and ushered in a new era of forgiveness and reconciliation in South Africa. “We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace,” said Obama, who like Mandela became the first black president of his country. Obama said that when he was a student, Mandela “woke me up to my responsibilities – – to others, and to myself – – and set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today.” Obama pointed out that “around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love.”
“I would not have the life I have today if it was not for him,” said Matlhogonolo Mothoagae, a postgraduate marketing student. “He was jailed so we could have our freedom.”
Rohan Laird, a 54-year-old CEO of a health insurance company, said in the stadium that he grew up during white rule in a “privileged position” as a white South African and that Mandela helped whites work through a burden of guilt. “His reconciliation allowed whites to be released themselves,” Lair said. “I honestly don’t think the world will see another leader like Nelson Mandela.”
“It is a moment of sadness celebrated by song and dance, which is what we South Africans do,” said Xolisa Madywabe, CEO of a South African investment firm.
After the memorial ended, his body will lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, once the seat of white power, before burial Sunday in his rural childhood village of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province.