Nelson Mandela’s body was flown on Saturday (December 14) to South Africa’s Eastern Cape region in preparation for a state funeral scheduled for Sunday (December 15) in his ancestral village.
Mourners lined up along the streets of Mthatha to welcome and pay tribute to the late former South African president when his body passed through on its way to Qunu.
Outside the airport, there was heavy security with armoured vehicles taking position and South African Defence Force soldiers patrolling the area.
Earlier on Saturday the ruling African National Congress (ANC) held a ceremony honouring the anti-apartheid hero.
In a farewell ceremony attended by South African President and ANC leader, Jacob Zuma, his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe and former president, Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s coffin, draped in the green and yellow ANC flag, was loaded onto a C-130 plane before departing to his final destination.
South African President, Jacob Zuma said: “Tomorrow we’ll be saying a final goodbye. We’d like to say to Madiba, go well, Tata, you have played your part, you have made your contribution. We’ll always remember you, we’ll always keep you in our hearts, we’ll always learn from your lessons,”
Mandela’s grandson, Ndaba, while thanking the ANC said: “Without the ANC providing a platform for our grandfather, we would not have known Nelson Mandela. Without the African National Congress, we would have never had the support or the protection to fight the apartheid regime, and therefore would like to thank you. We would also like to thank the MK veterans, as well as the ex-political prisoners for their dedication and their relentless support of our grandfather during the apartheid times.”
The ANC send-off came after nine days of intense and emotion-charged mourning and memorial activities held in Johannesburg and Pretoria which featured three days of lying in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria from Wednesday (December 11) to Friday (December 13) in which more than 100,000 people queued for hours to say a last personal goodbye to the nation’s first black president.
