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Union Buildings
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The South Africa’s government has released an updated schedule of official observances in honor of Nelson Mandela, culminating in a state funeral a week from Sunday.
Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane released the new details and said that the government would work closely with Nelson Mandela’s family “to ensure that all events conform to the family’s wishes and are culturally compliant”.
The official events honoring Mandela begin on Sunday, December 8, when the government will observe a national day of prayer and reflection “in which South Africans will celebrate the life of Mandela and his legacy in places of worship, homes and communities”, Collins Chabane said.
Nelson Mandela’s funeral service and interment ceremony will take place at his home
On Tuesday, December 10, an official memorial service for Nelson Mandela will be held at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, also known as the Soccer City stadium, the site of the 2010 World Cup final. The ceremony will be attended by members of the public and by a number of visiting heads of state and government, though Collins Chabane said the list of world leaders that would attend had not yet been finalized.
Nelson Mandela’s body will lie in state in an open casket at the Union Buildings, the official seat of the South African government, from Wednesday through Friday, with viewing open to “South Africans and selected international visitors and guests”, Collins Chabane said.
He also said Nelson Mandela’s remains would be transported daily between a nearby military hospital and the Union Buildings. South Africans wishing to view the late president’s remains will be shuttled from two yet-to-be named locations to the Unions Building.
On Saturday, December 14, Nelson Mandela’s body will be moved to the Eastern Cape province, where members of the ruling African National Congress party will bid him farewell. Later, a procession will take place from Mthatha to Qunu, where the Thembu community, of which Nelson Mandela was a member, will conduct a traditional ceremony.
On Sunday, December 15, a funeral service and interment ceremony will take place at Nelson Mandela’s home and final resting place at Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
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