Mandela coffin in Pretoria for public viewing
Nelson Mandela’s coffin, draped in the multi-coloured South African flag, has arrived at the seat of power in the country’s capital for public viewing.
Motorcycle-riding police officers escorted the coffin from 1 Military Hospital outside Pretoria to the Union Buildings.
Pretoria residents lined the streets to watch the procession go by, singing tributes to Mr Mandela, who died on December 5 at the age of 95.
His body will lie in state for three days in Pretoria, before being flown to Qunu, his home in the Eastern Cape Province. He will be buried on Sunday.
Soldiers in formal uniforms carried the coffin into the Union Buildings to a special viewing centre built inside the building's amphitheatre, which President Jacob Zuma named after Mr Mandela by decree yesterday.
Mandela family members, government officials and world leaders are expected to pass by the coffin.
Each day, Mr Mandela’s coffin will be driven back to 1 Military Hospital to be held overnight.
Mr Mandela’s body will be flown on Saturday to Qunu, his home in the Eastern Cape Province.
Yesterday, world leaders including President Barack Obama, eulogised Mr Mandela. In his speech, Mr Obama called Mr Mandela “the last great liberator of the 20th century”.
“We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again,” Mr Obama said. “But let me say to the young people of Africa, and young people around the world - you can make his life’s work your own.”
