Only family, close allies will be at Nelson Mandela’s graveside

South Africans brave the rain with song and dance join the procession of the body of Nelson Mandela along streets in Pretoria Saturday. [PHOTOS: MAXWELL AGWANDA/STANDARD]

By MACHUA KOINANGE

In Johannesburg

The world’s greatest icon of freedom Nelson Mandela will be laid to rest today in Qunu. The ceremony will be held between 8am and noon local time Sunday.

Mandela’s body arrived on its final leg at Mthatha Airport yesterday morning, and was escorted by military outriders and vehicles to his childhood home in Qunu.

About 120,000 viewed the body at the Union Building in Pretoria. Friday was the last of the three days of viewing. Thousands of mourners clad in yellow, green and black regalia – the colours of the ANC – and others draped in the rainbow flag flocked to the viewing site from as early as 6am. Because it was the last day, pick up places for buses to the venue were closed by noon. Some mourners got the buses but were not allowed into the Union Building after 3pm.

Many of those turned away instead lined up Madiba Street and waited for the body as it was being moved back to 1 Military Hospital.

The body was carried in a black Mercedes Benz van draped in the national flag. Crowds cheered and sang songs of praise as the casket drove past. Many waved at the vehicle as their final salute. Others watched in disbelief and wept.

Yesterday morning the body was flown from Pretoria to Mthatha Airport and escorted by road to Qunu. This is a mountainous place where Mandela grew up. It is a rural settlement where pick-up trucks can be seen on dusty roads packed with garden produce, sheep and chicken.

Qunu is known as the land of the Ubuntu. Residents here lined the dusty roads to welcome home their great son and wave him goodbye on his final journey. Thousands of residents are hoping to attend but they will be disappointed. The Mandela family has put restrictions on who can attend the actual burial.

Not all heads of state are invited. Only guests with special invitation will attend. The family, it is said, wants to keep the burial a private affair for them and very close friends.

CHARTER PLANES

Security is expected to be tight. Guests are being flown in by charter flights from Johannesburg. The South African government, according to diplomatic sources, is reported to have taken over the private flights schedule and block-booked the seats to evenly distribute them fairly to those wishing to travel. Selected guests will be shuttled to the burial ceremony from the airport. Media have been barred from attending the ceremony. Only the state-owned SABC will be allowed in to transmit the ceremony live.

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, his Communications counterpart Yunis Carrim and Public Works minister Thulas Nxesi announced that Mandela will receive a hero’s sendoff  with a 21-gun salute, a guard of honour and a brass band in attendance to play the national anthem.

Mandela’s casket will be draped in the national flag and at some point will also be branded with the ANC flag. Eastern Premier Noxolo Kiviet has appealed to Qunu residents to respect the Mandela family’s request.

It is understood that the venue of the funeral has a limited capacity to host the large crowds that would want to attend, hence the tight restrictions.

After the formal state funeral, the rest of the programme will conform to strict traditional rites of the Thembu clan to which Mandela belonged. An ox will be slaughtered in the morning and will form the highlight of the ceremony.

In Xhosa tradition, the slaughtering of an animal, which is a ritual, celebrates the various milestones of a person’s life. The rite is described by an elder as an intricate ceremony that involves “communicating with the ancestors and allowing the spirit of the departed person to rest”.

The animal is slaughtered in order to “accompany the spirit of the deceased” and its blood will be spilt during the ceremony. Mandela will be referred to as Dalibunga – the name that he received at the age of 16 after he underwent initiation.

Xhosa mourners are expected to wear traditional regalia. The government has been urged to take a back seat during the burial and allow for the traditional burial rites to be performed otherwise their intervention could mean that “Mandela’s ancestors will not welcome him… and his spirit could come to haunt his family” according to the commission of traditional affairs in the Eastern Cape region.

Millions of South Africans, and indeed the whole world, plan to follow the burial on television. There are selected public sites including stadiums where the ceremony will be screened on giant screens. Most businesses throughout the country are expected to close on Sunday.