South Africa’s King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has begun a 12-year prison sentence for kidnapping, assault and arson.
King Dalindyebo, who is a nephew of the late Nelson Mandela, reported to prison after his legal attempts to overturn his conviction failed.
The case against King Dalindyebo was related to a dispute he had with some of his subjects about 20 years ago.
He comes from the Thembu clan, to which Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, belonged.
King Dalindyebo, 51, is the first monarch to be jailed in South Africa since minority rule ended in 1994.
He ascended to the throne in 1989, and has about 700,000 subjects.
South Africa has 10 officially recognized monarchs representing different ethnic groups and clans.
They play a largely ceremonial role, and attend to minor disputes within their communities.
King Dalindyebo was accused of kidnapping a woman and her six children, setting their home on fire and beating up four youths, one of whom died, because one of their relatives had failed to present himself before the king’s traditional court.
He handed himself to prison authorities in the eastern city of Mthatha in compliance with a court order after a judge refused to extend his bail on December 30, the justice ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, Justice Minister Michael Masutha turned down his request for a retrial, saying there was no legal justification for doing so.
King Dalindyebo had maintained his innocence, saying he disciplined his subjects under customary law.
Sentencing him in October, the Supreme Court of Appeal said: “His behavior was all the more deplorable because the victims of his reign of terror were the vulnerable rural poor, who were dependent upon him. Our constitution does not countenance such behavior.
“We are a constitutional democracy in which everyone is accountable and where the most vulnerable are entitled to protection.”
Many people feel King Dalindyebo has disgraced the royal family, and that he will be hard-pressed to find any sympathy, correspondents say.
There is already talk of his son, Prince Azenethi Dalindyebo, being crowned as the next monarch.
King Dalindyebo defected from the governing African National Congress (ANC) to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party during his legal battles.
The DA revoked King Dalindyebo’s membership following the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has demanded his village home for her children, potentially triggering the first legal dispute since former South African president’s death.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyers said she was asserting her “customary rights” by demanding the house.
Nelson Mandela’s estate was provisionally valued at 46 million rand ($4.3 million) following his death in December.
The thrice-married Nelson Mandela divorced Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 1996.
The couple had two daughters, Zinzi and Zenani.
Nelson Mandela has one surviving child, Makaziwe, from his first marriage to the late Evelyn Mase.
He was married to Graca Machel, the wife of Mozambique’s late President Samora Machel, at the time of his death.
The thrice-married Nelson Mandela divorced Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 1996 (photo Getty Images)
Nelson Mandela’s large family – which includes grandchildren and great grandchildren – was hit by legal disputes over his wealth and burial site as he battled a recurring lung infection in the months leading to his death at the age of 95.
In his will, Nelson Mandela said: “The Qunu property should be used by my family in perpetuity in order to preserve the unity of the Mandela family.”
The executor of the will, South Africa’s Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, has not yet commented on the letter sent to him by Mvuzo Notyesi Incorporated, the legal firm representing Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
In the letter, the lawyers said Winnie Madikizela-Mandela obtained the house in Qunu while he was in jail for fighting white minority rule.
“The view we hold is that the aforesaid property belongs to the generation of Mr. Nelson Mandela and Mrs. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as their common and parental home,” it said.
“It is only in this home that the children and grandchildren of Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela can conduct their own customs and tradition and the house cannot be given to the sole custody of an individual nor can it be generally given to the custody of any person other than the children of Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela and/or her grandchildren,” it added.
The letter said this did not mean that Nelson Mandela’s other children would be denied access to the property.
“However, control and supervision of the property should be properly determined according to custom and tradition,” the lawyers said.
There was an outpouring of grief across the world following Nelson Mandela’s death at the age of 95.
He was revered for battling against apartheid in South Africa and had spent 27 years in jail before being released in 1990 and becoming the country’s first democratically elected president in 1994.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was prominent at services to honor the former president after his death.
He did not leave anything for her in his will, which was unveiled in February.
At the time, executors said Graca Machel was likely to waive her claims to the estate, although she was entitled to half of it.
Nelson Mandela also had a home in Houghton, an upmarket suburb in South Africa’s main city, Johannesburg.
His will said it should be used by the family of Makgatho, his deceased son from his marriage to Evelyn Mase.
“It is my wish that it should also serve as a place of gathering of the Mandela family in order to maintain its unity long after my death,” Nelson Mandela wrote.
A collection of unusual items signed by Nelson Mandela is being auctioned in Johannesburg.
The lots include a chess set, of figures from either side of the apartheid battle, and salt and pepper shakers of Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk.
The sale items are expected to raise around $450,000 for charity.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died in December aged 95, was revered around the world for fighting minority rule in his country.
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, before being released in 1990 by FW de Klerk, South Africa’s last white ruler.
Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and stepped down in 1999
He became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and stepped down in 1999.
The auction of 202 lots is being held on the eve of what would have been Nelson Mandela’s 96th birthday.
“Nelson Mandela signed many, many, many things. And that’s what I like about it [the auction],” said Savo Tufegdzic of Stephan Welz & Co, the firm that will put the items under the hammer.
“People always look for autographs, but there are only a handful of items signed by those celebrities. In the case of Nelson Mandela, every person can own a piece of him.”
The chess set has pieces depicting Nelson Mandela, his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu facing off against apartheid leaders.
The set, which has some pieces missing, is thought to be worth between $950 and $1,400, the South African Press Association (SAPA) news agency reports.
The auction also includes objects ranging from statues, photographs, refrigerator magnets, ostrich eggs, medals, books and even a batch of 850 Chinese telephone cards emblazoned with Nelson Mandela’s image.
Some of the money raised would go to the Foundation for Rural Development run by Nelson Mandela’s grand-daughter Ndileka Mandela, SAPA reports.
South Africa’s ANC (African National Congress) has won a commanding victory in the country’s general election, partial results show.
With about 80% of the results in, the ANC has 63% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is in third place with 5%.
The electoral commission said voting passed off peacefully in most areas, with turnout at just over 72%.
The ANC victory in South Africa’s general elections would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term (photo Reuters)
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela – the country’s first black president – and mark 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
Dissatisfaction with the government has been growing over high levels of unemployment, a lack of basic services and allegations of widespread corruption.
The ANC is likely to use its impressive mandate to try to drive through its National Development Plan – rejecting nationalization, and emphasizing investment and infrastructure.
The business-friendly plan has alarmed South Africa’s powerful unions – some of which may soon break away to form their own party, he says.
He adds that, on 5%, the EFF are no threat to the ANC but their aggressive populism will keep ministers on their toes, and South African politics more abrasive than ever.
The DA has increased its share of the vote from 17% in the last election to 22%, according to the latest results.
Early on Thursday, DA leader Helen Zille told AFP news agency that she expected her party’s final vote to be around the 23% margin.
“We’ll see how it goes. Of course, we hope it will be more. We did as much as we could,” she is quoted as saying.
The DA has been trying to make inroads into the black electorate – its support is mainly concentrated in the Western Cape which has a large white and mixed-race population.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 were able to cast their ballots for the first time, although only a third of those entitled to do so had registered to vote.
The ANC victory would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term. He was dogged by allegations of corruption in the build-up to the election after an independent inquiry found he had “unduly benefited” from an expensive government-funded upgrade to his private residence.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Wednesday, Jacob Zuma said he thought “the results will be very good”, but added that the campaign had been “very challenging”.
The partial results in South Africa’s polls show that governing African National Congress (ANC) has taken an early lead in the general election.
With 31% of votes counted, the ANC had 58.7% of the vote followed by the Democratic Alliance on 27.7%.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power although analysts say anything less than 60% of the vote for the party will be seen as a major upset.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power in South Africa (photo AFP)
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was in third place with 4.2%.
The electoral commission said voting passed peacefully in most areas.
Turnout was just over 72%, with about 25 million people registered to vote in 22,000 polling stations across South Africa.
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela – the country’s first black president – and mark 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 were able to cast their ballots for the first time, although only a third of those entitled to do so had registered to vote.
An ANC victory would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term. In the last election in 2009, the ANC saw a drop in support, polling 66% of the vote.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Wednesday, Jacob Zuma said he thought “the results will be very good”, but added that the campaign had been “very challenging”.
The party emerging as the ANC’s main challenger is the Democratic Alliance (DA) – a liberal pro-business party, led by anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille, which is trying to make inroads into the black electorate.
The EFF, launched last year by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, hopes to get its first parliamentary seats with its campaign for nationalizing the mines and the forced redistribution of farmland.
South Africa is voting in general elections as it marks 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
The African National Congress (ANC) is tipped to win, returning President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term.
These are the first elections since the death in December of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president.
Correspondents say voting has begun smoothly with long queues and there is an air of excitement, especially amongst first-time voters.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 are casting their first national ballots.
Correspondents say police have been deployed to areas where there have been scene of violent protests and political tensions.
South Africa is voting in general elections as it marks 20 years since the end of white-minority rule
The ANC is expected to win more than 60% of the vote, but its campaign has been hit by concern over economic problems such as high unemployment and a number of corruption scandals.
Opinion polls show there is disaffection with the country’s leadership but it is not clear whether this will translate into a significant swing to either main opposition party – the Democratic Alliance, led by anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille – or the newly launched Economic Freedom Fighters, headed by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema.
The polling station is at Orlando West High, a school steeped in the anti-apartheid struggle history and not far from Nelson Mandela’s old home.
Those lining up acknowledge the problems of corruption and high unemployment but say they are voting for all the years black people were denied the right to vote under racial oppression.
The ANC’s campaign has drawn heavily on past glories and on the outpouring of grief over the death last year of Nelson Mandela.
“Do it for Madiba, Vote ANC!” campaign posters read, referring to Nelson Mandela by his clan name.
But many commentators say this election could be the last to be dominated by South Africa’s post-apartheid legacy.
About a quarter of South Africa’s workforce is jobless and unemployment is the major issue among young voters, followed by education.
Some 22,000 polling stations are open at schools, places of worship, tribal authority sites and hospitals, while dozens of vehicles serving as mobile voting centers will operate in remote areas.
About 25 million people have registered to vote – roughly half the population.
Police say at least one officer will be on duty at every polling station and troops have also been deployed to keep order at various hotspots.
There was rioting in Bekkersdal township, south-west of Johannesburg, on Tuesday and reports that some temporary polling stations had been burned down.
Bekkersdal has suffered intermittent unrest since last year as residents protested over a lack of public services. Many have vowed to boycott the election.
Polls opened at 07:00 and are due to close 14 hours later.
President Jacob Zuma cast his ballot at his Nkandala homestead in rural KwaZulu-Natal while Helen Zille voted in Cape Town, which is under the control of her party.
South Africa’s first black President Nelson Mandela left an estate valued at more than 46 million rand ($4.13 million), a public reading of his will has revealed.
Executor Justice Dikgang Moseneke, summarizing what he said was a 40-page document, said he was “not aware of any contest” to the will.
Close personal staff each get 50,000 rand. Schools Nelson Mandela attended are due to receive 100,000 rand.
Nelson Mandela died in December at the age of 95.
Nelson Mandela left an estate valued at more than 46 million rand
He left behind an estate that includes an upmarket house in Johannesburg, a modest dwelling in his rural Eastern Cape home province and royalties from book sales, including his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.
Nelson Mandela also left 100,000 rand to each of four other educational institutions, for bursaries and scholarships.
The mood of the Mandela family when the will was read was “charged with emotions but it went well,” said the executor, who added that the Mandela family were “well pleased” by his will.
The family trust will receive 1.5 million rand, plus royalties.
The ANC will also receive some royalties, to be used at the discretion of the party’s executive committee, to spread information about the principles and policies of the ANC, particularly about reconciliation.
There is a 90-day period in which Nelson Mandela will can be contested.
South African sculptors Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren have been ordered by government to remove a bronze rabbit they hid in the ear of Nelson Mandela statue.
The statue was unveiled after the former president’s death last month.
The sculptors reportedly inserted the rabbit as a trademark signature and to denote the haste with which they had to complete the statue.
Rabbit in the Afrikaans language is “haas”, which also means haste.
Nelson Mandela, who died at the age of 95, was widely acclaimed for his role in fighting white minority rule and promoting reconciliation after being elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994.
Sculptors Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren have been ordered to remove the bronze rabbit they hid in the ear of Nelson Mandela statue
The 30-ft-bronze statue was unveiled on December 16, a day after Nelson Mandela was buried.
It stands at the Union Buildings, the government headquarters in the capital, Pretoria.
With Nelson Mandela’s hands reaching outward, the statute was intended to show that he had embraced the whole nation.
Mogomotsi Mogodiri, the spokesman for the Department of Arts and Culture, said the sculptors had apologized for any offence caused to the government and Nelson Mandela’s family by placing the rabbit in the statue’s right ear.
Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren said they had added the rabbit to the statue after the department refused to allow them to engrave their signatures on the trousers of the statue, South Africa’s Beeld newspaper reported.
Thamsanqa Jantjie, the sign interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial who is accused of making up gestures, has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, local media report.
Thamsanqa Jantjie “might have had a breakdown”, his wife Siziwe is quoted as saying.
Sign language experts accused Thamsanqa Jantjie of referring to “prawns” and “rocking horses” while translating eulogies at Nelson Mandela’s memorial last week.
Thamsanqa Jantjie said he suffered a sudden attack of schizophrenia.
He insisted he was a qualified interpreter.
South Africa’s Deputy Disability Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu has said the company which had employed him had “vanished”.
Thamsanqa Jantjie has been admitted to Johannesburg psychiatric hospital
Thamsanqa Jantjie’s wife took him to a psychiatric hospital near Johannesburg for a check-up on Tuesday, and it was suggested that he be admitted immediately, Johannesburg’s The Star newspaper reports.
“The past few days have been hard. We have been supportive because he might have had a breakdown,” Siziwe Jantjie is quoted as saying.
Last week, Thamsanqa Jantjie said he was supposed to have gone for a check-up on the day of the memorial, but he postponed it.
During the memorial at Johannesburg’s FNB stadium, which was broadcast live around the world, Thamsanqa Jantjie stood on the stage next to key speakers including President Barack Obama, South African President Jacob Zuma and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, translating their eulogies.
Thamsanqa Jantjie blamed his flawed interpretation on a schizophrenic episode, saying he had seen angels coming into the stadium.
The White House has downplayed fears that he was a security risk to President Obama.
Sign language experts said Thamsanqa Jantjie had made “funny gestures” and little more than “flapping his arms around”.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) said it had used Thamsanqa Jantjie as an interpreter several times before, and “had not been aware of any of complaints regarding the quality of services, qualifications or reported illnesses” of the interpreter.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu – a long-time friend of Nelson Mandela – has said that South Africa’s first black president would have been appalled that Afrikaners were excluded from memorial services marking his death.
Desmond Tutu highlighted the absence of the Dutch Reformed Church and the limited use of the Afrikaans language at the services.
A mainly Afrikaner party introduced white minority rule, which Nelson Mandela opposed, spending 27 years in jail.
But after becoming South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela preached reconciliation with his former enemies.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu highlighted the absence of the Dutch Reformed Church and the limited use of the Afrikaans language at Nelson Mandela’s funeral services
Archbishop Desmond Tutu also strongly criticized the prominence of the governing African National Congress (ANC) during the week of events following Nelson Mandela’s death on December 5.
“I also believe it may have sent out a more inclusive message had the programme directors at the Memorial and Funeral – both national and State events – not both been senior office-bearers of the ruling party,” he said.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu fought apartheid, along with Nelson Mandela and the ANC, but has become increasingly critical of the party, recently saying he would vote for the opposition.
He almost did not attend Sunday’s funeral for his close friend, saying he had not been invited.
In a statement, Desmond Tutu described Nelson Mandela as a “nation builder” who “went out of his way” to include Afrikaners after the end of apartheid.
A statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, a day after he was buried.
The 30ft bronze statue has been erected at the Union Buildings, South Africa’s government headquarters.
The statue, with Nelson Mandela’s hands reaching outward, was intended to show that he had embraced the whole nation, President Jacob Zuma said.
Nelson Mandela was given a state funeral at his ancestral home on Sunday.
African National Congress (ANC) members, veterans of the fight against apartheid and foreign dignitaries – including several African presidents and the Prince of Wales – attended the funeral ceremony in the village of Qunu in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
The funeral ceremony followed a 10-day period of mourning and celebrating Nelson Mandela’s life after his death at the age of 95.
The national flag was raised on Monday from its half-mast position, and was flying as normal.
Nelson Mandela statue has been erected at the Union Buildings in Pretoria
Nelson Mandela statue was unveiled on South Africa’s Day of Reconciliation, a public holiday which marks the end of racial conflict in South Africa.
“Former President Mandela is associated with the promotion of reconciliation which is why the day was chosen for the unveiling,” said the government.
During white minority rule, December 16 was called the Day of Covenant to honor the victory of Afrikaners over a Zulu army in an 1838 clash known as the Battle of Blood River.
More than a century later, on December 16, 1961, Nelson Mandela launched an armed group, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), to fight South Africa’s white minority rule.
It led to his arrest and imprisonment for 27 years.
After he became president in 1994 at the end of minority rule, Nelson Mandela used the day to urge South Africans to set aside their differences and to unite.
During his address at the funeral on Sunday, Jacob Zuma pledged to build on Nelson Mandela’s legacy.
“As your journey ends today, ours must continue in earnest… South Africa will continue to rise because we dare not fail you,” Jacob Zuma said.
Nelson Mandela’s body has been buried in a family plot, after political and religious leaders paid tribute to South Africa’s first black president at a state funeral service.
Graca Machel and President Jacob Zuma were present for the private, traditional Xhosa burial at Nelson Mandela’s ancestral home in Qunu.
Jacob Zuma had earlier told the larger funeral service that South Africans had to take his legacy forward.
Nelson Mandela died on December 5 at the age 95.
The last of 10 days of commemorations for Nelson Mandela began with his coffin being taken on a gun carriage from his home to a giant marquee where his portrait hung behind 95 candles – each representing a year of his life.
The coffin, draped in the South African flag, was placed beneath a lectern where speakers paid their tributes.
Some guests sang and danced to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s life as the service began.
After the national anthem, the service heard from a family spokesman, Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima, who thanked the army medical team that had treated Nelson Mandela before he died.
African National Congress members, veterans of the fight against apartheid and foreign dignitaries – including several African presidents and the Prince of Wales – were among the guests.
Nelson Mandela’s body has been buried in a family plot in Qunu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu – a long-time friend of Nelson Mandela – was also there, as was queen talk-show +Oprah Winfrey.
While the service took place, a 21-gun salute sounded far away in Pretoria.
President Jacob Zuma, who was booed at last week’s stadium commemoration in Soweto, led the service in song before giving his funeral oration.
“Whilst the long walk to freedom has ended in the physical sense, our own journey continues,” he said.
An unexpected contribution came from Kenneth Kaunda, 89-year-old former president of Zambia, who lightened the tone of the proceedings by jogging to the stage.
He recounted failed appeals he had made to two South African leaders, John Vorster and PW Botha, for the release of Nelson Mandela and his ANC colleagues from prison.
As the political tributes overran, the organizers made an unsuccessful attempt to cut back the religious element of the service.
The master of ceremonies, ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, had earlier explained that burial had to take place at midday, in line with the traditions of Nelson Mandela’s Thembu tribe in Qunu.
“A person of Mandela’s stature is meant to be laid to rest when the sun is at its highest and when the shadow is at its shortest.”
As the state funeral drew to a close, military pallbearers carried the coffin to the grave site for the more private ceremony.
There, a chaplain spoke of Nelson Mandela achieving ultimate freedom at the end of a “truly long walk”.
Three helicopters trailing South African flags then flew over the scene followed by six jets. TV pictures of the grave site came to a close.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson, who attended the burial, said Desmond Tutu told mourners Nelson Mandela “doesn’t need a stone – he is in all of our hearts”.
The former archbishop was at the private ceremony despite conflicting statements on Friday about whether he had been invited.
According to tradition, the Thembu community was holding a private traditional Xhosa ceremony – including songs and poems about Nelson Mandela’s life and his achievements.
An ox was due to be slaughtered and a family elder was to stay near the coffin, to talk “to the body’s spirit”.
The burial brought to an end more than a week of mourning across South Africa.
Tens of thousands of people flocked to the FNB stadium for a public memorial on Tuesday, to hear President Barack Obama and other international leaders pay tribute to Nelson Mandela.
Over the next three days, at least 100,000 people saw the former president’s body lying in state in Pretoria. Thousands more had to be turned away.
On Saturday, Nelson Mandela’s coffin was flown from Waterkloof airbase in Pretoria to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
A military guard of honor then took the casket on a 20-mile route to Qunu, where Nelson Mandela had wanted to spend his final days.
Nelson Mandela’s state funeral is taking place in his ancestral home in Qunu, ending a week of commemorations for South Africa’s first black president.
Some 4,500 people – including foreign dignitaries – are attending the service, which blends state ceremonial with traditional rituals.
Nelson Mandela died on December 5 at the age of 95.
Members of his family attended an overnight vigil, with a traditional praise singer believed to be chanting details of his long journey and life.
The coffin was taken on a gun carriage from Nelson Mandela’s house to a giant white marquee that had been specially erected.
The state funeral started shortly after 08:00 local time.
Inside the marquee, Nelson Mandela’s portrait had been placed behind two rows of candles, on one of three stages.
Nelson Mandela’s state funeral is taking place in his ancestral home in Qunu, ending a week of commemorations for South Africa’s first black president
After the national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’I Africa (God Bless Africa) was sung, the service heard from a family spokesman, Chief Matanzima, who praised the army medical team that had treated Nelson Mandela before he died.
Two grandchildren then addressed the congregation.
Listening to the tributes were Graca Machel, his widow, and his second wife, Winnie-Madikizela Mandela, who sat either side of President Jacob Zuma.
African National Congress members, veterans of the fight against apartheid and foreign dignitaries – including several African presidents, the Prince of Wales – are among the guests.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu – a long-time friend of Nelson Mandela – is there, having earlier said he had cancelled his flight as he had not received an invitation.
Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is also present.
Some guests have been singing and dancing to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s life.
After the two-hour service, Nelson Mandela’s Thembu community will conduct a private traditional Xhosa ceremony – including songs and poems about Mandela’s life and his achievements.
An ox will be slaughtered. A family elder will stay near the coffin, which has been draped with a lion’s skin, to talk “to the body’s spirit”.
Nelson Mandela’s body has arrived in his ancestral home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, the final leg of its journey before burial.
Large numbers of people lined the roads in the rural region to pay their respects as the cortege passed by.
A state funeral will be held on Sunday, December 15, for South Africa’s first black president, who died on December 5.
The coffin was flown from Waterkloof airbase in Pretoria on a C130 military aircraft, escorted by two fighter jets.
In line with tribal custom, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla accompanied him on the journey, speaking to his coffin to tell him he was on his way home to rest.
It arrived in Mthatha, 450 miles away at 13:37 local.
Nelson Mandela’s coffin has arrived in his ancestral home in Qunu
To solemn music, the coffin draped in a South African flag was moved by a military guard of honor and placed in a hearse to begin the 20 miles journey to Qunu, where Nelson Mandela had said he wanted to be buried.
People waving flags and cheering and singing – in places 10 to 12 deep – lined the route taken by the cortege through Mthatha town to pay their last respects.
Tears as well as smiles could be seen on the faces of onlookers.
The cortege then drove through the gates of the Mandela homestead in Qunu, where it will rest overnight in the grounds of the royal house of Thembu.
The Thembu community will conduct a traditional ceremony – including songs and poems about Nelson Mandela’s life and his achievements – in a giant white marquee that has been specially erected.
Some 4,000 people, including presidents from Africa, several prime ministers, the Iranian vice-president, and the Prince of Wales, are expected to attend.
However, Archbishop Desmond Tutu – a long-time friend of Nelson Mandela – has cancelled arrangements to fly to the Eastern Cape for the funeral after saying he had not been invited.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a veteran anti-apartheid campaigner in South Africa, has said he will not be going to Nelson Mandela’s funeral because he has not been invited.
“I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured,” Desmond Tutu said in a statement.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said he will not be going to Nelson Mandela’s funeral because he has not been invited
But he did not want to gatecrash “a private family funeral.”
However, a presidential spokesman said Archbishop Desmond Tutu was on the guest list for Sunday’s funeral and a solution would be found.
The African National Congress (ANC) members have paid final tributes to Nelson Mandela at a ceremony in Pretoria ahead of Sunday’s funeral.
President Jacob Zuma and other ANC leaders attended the event, which included a multi-faith service and a musical tribute.
Afterwards, Nelson Mandela’s coffin began the journey by air and road to his ancestral home at Qunu.
It is being accompanied by family members and officials.
At least 100,000 people saw the former South African president’s body lying in state in Pretoria over the last three days, but some had to be turned away.
The 95-year-old former leader died on December 5.
More than 1,000 members of the ANC, which Nelson Mandela once led, attended the ceremony at the Waterkloof air base in Pretoria.
US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and Ireland’s Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams were among the foreign guests invited.
Nelson Mandela’s coffin began the journey by air and road to his ancestral home at Qunu
Mourners heard President Jacob Zuma pay his own tribute to Nelson Mandela, calling him a “towering figure”, “a man of action” and a “democrat who understood the world.”
“Yes, we will miss him… He was our father, he was our guardian. He was something special.”
“We’ll always keep you in our hearts,” Jacob Zuma said.
The coffin is being flown to Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape ahead of the burial in Qunu.
The C130 military aircraft carrying the coffin was escorted by two fighter jets after take-off.
Chief mourners from Nelson Mandela’s Thembu clan and family, as well as senior government officials, would be accompanying the coffin, army officials said.
However his widow Graca Machel, and former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, were travelling on a separate flight, in accordance with Thembu tradition.
A military guard of honor will welcome the flight in Mthatha, and the coffin will be placed on a gun carriage and transported to a hearse.
People have been invited to form a human chain to pay their last respects as the cortege makes its way to Qunu.
In Qunu, the Thembu community will conduct a traditional ceremony in a giant white marquee that has been specially erected.
Some 4,000 people, including presidents from Africa, several prime ministers, the Iranian vice-president, and the Prince of Wales, are expected to attend.
On Friday, the South African government said in a statement that “the third day closed with over 50,000 paying their respects to our national icon and first democratically elected president of our country”.
Hundreds of people pushed through police lines in a last-ditch bid to see Nelson Mandela lying in state in South Africa’s capital Pretoria.
They were hoping to be the last of some 50,000 people to pass through the Union Buildings on Friday, where the former president’s body has lain.
Officials say at least 100,000 people have visited the venue over the past three days to pay their respects.
Nelson Mandela’s coffin was taken from the building shortly after doors closed.
The coffin was escorted by a guard of honour to a waiting hearse as military helicopters circled over the city.
Nelson Mandela’s body will remain in Pretoria overnight, and there will be a ceremony at a local air force base on Saturday morning to allow members of the governing African National Congress to say a last farewell.
Hundreds of people pushed through police lines in a last-ditch bid to see Nelson Mandela lying in state
The coffin will then be flown to the Eastern Cape ahead of the burial at Nelson Mandela’s ancestral home in Qunu on Sunday.
The funeral will mark the end of a period of commemorations in South Africa since Nelson Mandela died at 95 on December 5.
“The third day closed with over 50,000 paying their respects to our national icon and first democratically elected President of our country,” the South African government said in a statement.
Shortly before the lying in state came to an end, at 17:45 local time, hundreds of people towards the front of the queue pushed through in the hope to be one of the last through the door.
One police officer told the AFP news agency: “There are too many people. The whole of the Republic of South Africa wants to say goodbye.”
Many people waited in the line for 11 hours for the chance to see Nelson Mandela’s body.
Some were angry more time had not been allowed for this ceremonial; others said even if they could not reach Nelson Mandela’s coffin for a personal farewell it was enough simply to be there.
South African government has warned people not to attempt to go to see Nelson Mandela’s body in the capital, Pretoria, unless they are already in the queue.
Nelson Mandela’s body is lying in state at the Union Buildings, where he was sworn in as South Africa’s first black president in 1994.
More than 50,000 people were waiting for buses when the warning came.
Nelson Mandela will be buried at his ancestral home in Qunu on Sunday, December 15. He died on December 5 at the age of 95.
His body is to be flown to the rural area of the Eastern Cape where he grew up.
Friday is the last of three days for people to file past the body in Pretoria.
The government said it could not guarantee everyone already waiting for buses would get in.
The response from the public to view Nelson Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba, had been “overwhelming and heart-warming”, government spokesman Phumla Williams said in a statement.
South African government has warned people not to attempt to go to see Nelson Mandela’s body in Pretoria, unless they are already in the queue
Between 12,000 and 14,000 people had paid their respects to Nelson Mandela on the first day he laid in state “with two people passing every three seconds on day two”, she said.
If any additional numbers came on Friday it would make it physically impossible for people to get the opportunity to file past the body, she added.
“We appeal to members of the public who have not had the opportunity to pay their respects to President Mandela at the Union Buildings, to say goodbye in their own personal way.”
Correspondents who have visited the coffin said Nelson Mandela’s body could be seen through a glass screen, dressed in one of his trademark patterned shirts.
At each end of the casket stood two navy officers clad in white uniforms, with their swords pointing down.
Some mourners stopped briefly to pray, while a number of people reportedly fainted.
At the end of the day, Nelson Mandela’s body will be returned to One Military Hospital before being flown from Waterkloof Military Airbase near Pretoria to Mthatha on Saturday.
Lt-Gen Xolani Mabangu, from the defense force, said chief mourners among the Madiba clan and Mandela family, as well as senior government officials, would accompany the body, the South African Press Association reports.
A military guard of honor will welcome the arrival, and the coffin will be placed on a gun carriage and transported to a hearse.
Nelson Mandela’s body will then be taken to his home village of Qunu, where the Thembu community will conduct a traditional ceremony.
A national day of reconciliation will take place in South Africa on December 16, when a statue of Nelson Mandela will be unveiled at the Union Buildings.
South Africa’s Deputy Disability Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu says the government is investigating how interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie, who faked sign language at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service was given security clearance.
Thamsanqa Jantjie, who stood alongside world leaders at the event, has denied being a fraud, and said he panicked when he began hallucinating.
The sign interpreter said he had schizophrenia, which had in the past made him act violently.
The agency that employed him, SA Interpreters, has reportedly vanished.
Thamsanqa Jantjie, who stood alongside world leaders at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, has denied being a fraud
The African National Congress (ANC) said it had used Thamsanqa Jantjie as an interpreter several times before, and “had not been aware of any of complaints regarding the quality of services, qualifications or reported illnesses” of the interpreter.
Tuesday’s memorial at a stadium in Johannesburg was organized by the state, not the ANC, so the ruling party could not comment on security arrangements.
The South African Translators’ Institute said earlier there had been complaints over Thamsanqa Jantjie’s work before, but that the ANC had taken no action.
The ANC said it would “follow up the reported correspondence that has supposedly been sent to us in this regard and where necessary act on it”.
During the memorial, Thamsanqa Jantjie stood on the stage next to key speakers including President Barack Obama, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, translating their eulogies.
Thamsanqa Jantjie ‘s performance was watched on television by millions of people worldwide and angered the South African deaf community. Pressure has been mounting on the government to explain why he was hired for such an important event.
Deputy Disability Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu told a news conference on Thursday: “Firstly, I don’t think South Africa as a country would put at risk anybody’s security, especially those of heads of state.
“Secondly, when somebody provides a service of a sign language interpreter, I don’t think… somebody would say: <<Is your head ok? Do you have any mental disability?>> I think the focus was on: <<Are you able to sign? Can you provide the services?>>”
But she said: “In terms of security clearance that is in a process, we are requesting to check his vetting.”
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu apologized to the deaf community but said there was no reason for South Africa to be embarrassed.
The company which supplied a “fake” sign language interpreter to the Mandela memorial service has vanished, a South African minister has said.
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu apologized to the deaf community for the poor quality of interpretation given by Thamsanqa Jantjie from SA Interpreters.
“He is Xhosa speaking. The English was a bit too much for him,” she said.
Thamsanqa Jantjie himself has blamed his flawed interpretation on a schizophrenic episode.
He also admitted he has been violent in the past.
Thamsanqa Jantjie has blamed his flawed interpretation on a schizophrenic episode
During the memorial, Thamsanqa Jantjie was employed to stand on the stage next to key speakers such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, translating their eulogies.
But the minister denied there was a security issue, saying the interpreter had been properly accredited.
Nelson Mandela died last week at the age of 95, and will be buried on Sunday, December 15.
Ever since Tuesday’s event, pressure has been mounting on the government to explain why Thamsanqa Jantjie was hired for such an important event.
During a press conference, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, the deputy minister for women, children and people with disabilities, admitted that a mistake had been made but said there was no reason for the country to be embarrassed.
“There are as many as a hundred sign language dialects,” Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said, to explain the difficulties he faced.
“He started well and later he became tired. Guidelines say we must switch interpreters every 20 minutes.”
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu did not rule out employing him in some circumstances again.
But she accused Thamsanqa Jantjie’s employers, SA Interpreters, of being cheats, and said the company’s directors had now vanished into thin air.
His performance was watched on television by millions of people worldwide.
Thamsanqa Jantjie said that during the event, he had lost concentration because of voices in his head.
He had started hallucinating, and saw angels coming into the stadium.
Thamsanqa Jantjie also indicated that his past behavior had sometimes been unpredictable, telling the Associated Press news agency that “sometimes I will react violent on this place, sometimes I will see things chasing me”.
Thamsanqa Jantjie – the South African sign language interpreter accused of gesticulating gibberish during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service – defended his “champion” performance Thursday, but said he may have suffered a schizophrenic episode while on stage.
Thamsanqa Jantjie, 34, told Johannesburg’s Star newspaper he started hearing voices in his head and hallucinating, resulting in gestures that made no sense to outraged deaf people around the world.
“There was nothing I could do. I was alone in a very dangerous situation. I tried to control myself and not show the world what was going on. I am very sorry. It’s the situation I found myself in,” Thamsanqa Jantjie told the paper.
He did not know what triggered the attack, saying he took medication for his schizophrenia.
Thamsanqa Jantjie said he may have suffered a schizophrenic episode while on stage at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service
Millions of TV viewers saw Thamsanqa Jantjie interpreting Tuesday at Nelson Mandela’s memorial attended by leaders from around the world, but South Africa’s leading deaf association on Wednesday denounced him as a fake, saying he was inventing signs.
However, in a radio interview, Thamsanqa Jantjie said he was happy with his performance at the memorial.
“Absolutely, absolutely. I think that I’ve been a champion of sign language,” he told Talk Radio 702.
The controversy has overshadowed South Africa’s 10-day farewell to Nelson Mandela, whose remains were lying in state for a second day Thursday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he was sworn in as the nation’s first black president in 1994.
Revelations about Thamsanqa Jantjie’s unconventional gestures – experts said he did not know even basic signs such as “thank you” or “Mandela” – sparked a hunt for the mystery signer on Wednesday.
The government, which was in charge of the mass memorial, said it had no idea who he was, as did the ruling African National Congress (ANC), even though footage from two large ANC events last year showed him signing on stage next to President Jacob Zuma.
Thamsanqa Jantjie said he worked for a company called SA Interpreters, which had been hired by the ANC for Tuesday’s ceremony at Johannesburg’s 95,000-seat Soccer City stadium.
President Barack Obama was caught smiling and taking a selfie with his seat-mates, Denmark’s PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Britain’s David Cameron during Nelson Mandela’s massive memorial service in Johannesburg.
As the three of them smile for the camera, a stern-looking Michelle Obama can be seen staring straight ahead, hands clasped.
Michelle Obama’s reaction – not just to the “selfie” but to her husband’s chatting and joking with the young Danish prime minister – was priceless. In one picture, Michelle Obama could be seen glaring over at Barack Obama while he put his hand on Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s shoulder.
In another, it appeared the first lady and the president switched seats, putting Michelle Obama squarely between him and Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Barack Obama was caught smiling and taking a selfie with Helle Thorning-Schmidt and David Cameron during Nelson Mandela’s massive memorial service
The photographer behind the “selfie” pic of the three dignitaries, though, later claimed that the first lady herself was “joking with those around her” a few seconds earlier.
“The stern look was captured by chance,” he wrote.
After the images surged through social media, the White House on Wednesday released its own set of photos of Barack Obama’s South Africa visit and among them was a picture of Obama, the first lady and the Danish prime minister.
But in this one, Barack Obama was talking to his wife, while Helle Thorning-Schmidt seemed preoccupied with her phone.
The “selfie” incident was the second unexpected controversy stirred up by the president in South Africa. Earlier, Cuban-American lawmakers publicly objected after Barack Obama – on his way to deliver his tribute to Nelson Mandela – shook the hand of Cuba’s President Raul Castro.
Deaf viewers have complained that the official sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service was inept.
According to the Deaf Federation of South Africa, the man’s signs were “arbitrary” and “did not make sense”.
Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, South Africa’s first deaf female MP, tweeted that the interpreter was “signing rubbish”.
The man was “employed by ANC head office or used by them” but didn’t use South African sign language.
Nelson Mandela’s memorial deaf interpreter used fake sign language
“ANC-linked interpreter on the stage with dep president of ANC is signing rubbish. He cannot sign. Please get him off,” Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen tweeted during the live broadcast.
The ANC refused to comment on whether it had used the interpreter at previous events.
South Africa’s government said it was preparing a statement, according to the Associated Press news agency.
The sign language interpreter has yet to be publicly identified.
Francois Deysal, who is a signing trainer at the Deaf Federation of South Africa, said he was “not known to the deaf community or other interpreters in South Africa”.
South African sign language has its own structure and is not linked to any spoken language like Afrikaans, Xhosa or English..
South African Braam Jordaan, the Young Deaf Leader for the World Federation of the Deaf, said the man was “creating his own signs”.
Braam Jordaan said deaf people had been excluded in South Africa long before apartheid happened.
There is one sign language interpreter for every 10,000 deaf people in South Africa, he said via an interpreter.
Major national and international news channels broadcast Nelson Mandela’s state memorial service live on Tuesday.
The man was seen on stage signing as friends and family of Nelson Mandela, and world leaders, paid tribute to the former South African president.
Nelson Mandela’s coffin arrived at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where his remanis will lie in state for three days.
The former South African president’s remains were taken in procession from a hospital mortuary to the government main building.
Members of the public lined the route to form a “guard of honor”.
The public, invited heads of state and international guests will be able to view the body of the former president who died last Thursday, aged 95.
He will be buried in his home village of Qunu in Eastern Cape province on Sunday.
Tens of thousands of South Africans joined scores of world leaders for a national memorial service on Tuesday as part of a series of commemorations.
Nelson Mandela’s coffin arrived at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where his remanis will lie in state for three days
The procession left the city’s 1 Military Hospital shortly after 07:00 on Wednesday. The coffin could be seen inside a black hearse, draped in a South African flag.
It travelled along Kgosi Mampuru Street and Madiba Street on the way to the Union Buildings.
The hearse was in a long convoy with military outriders and military ambulances.
Nelson Mandela’s remains will make the journey from the military hospital every morning from Wednesday until Friday, the government announced.
“The public are encouraged to form a guard of honor by lining the streets,” it said.
At the memorial service on Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma announced that the Union Buildings would be renamed the Mandela Amphitheatre.
Nelson Mandela’s family and selected VIP visitors will be able to view the body from 10:00 local time on Wednesday.
Members of the public can file past from 12:00 to 17:30.
The public will then be able to view the body from 08:00 to 17:30 on Thursday and Friday.
Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Johannesburg was attended by 52 presidents and 16 prime ministers on December 10, 2013.
Although the stadium had empty seats, a live broadcast was beamed into three other venues, and there were more than 100 public viewing areas across the country.
Between now and Nelson Mandela’s burial on Sunday, thousands will line the streets to see his coffin pass through Pretoria.
Although crowd estimates should always be treated with caution, the largest funeral attendance in history is widely thought to have happened in 1969 when 15 million people reportedly took to the streets of Chennai for CN Annadurai, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Johannesburg was attended by 52 presidents and 16 prime ministers
CN Annadurai’s popularity was partly due to his brilliance as a writer and speaker, says Tamil expert MSS Pandian, and the fact he founded a separate linguistic identity for the Tamils by rejecting Hindi as the national language.
According to the Guinness World of Records, the highest percentage of mourners in any country came 20 years later, when one in six Iranians – about 10 million – witnessed the coffin of Ayatollah Khomeini being carried through Tehran, amid chaotic scenes in which several were crushed to death.
For sheer political magnitude, there was also Pope John Paul II‘s funeral in Rome in 2005, when about 200 world leaders were among the 250,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square.
A huge television audience estimated to be in the billions watched the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
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