Mandela's coffin placed into grave

The burial was taking place among the rolling hills of Qunu, the village in eastern South Africa where Mr Mandela grew up and where he was taken for burial in an elaborate ceremony.

Some 450 people attended the burial ceremony after an earlier funeral service in which more than 4,000 guests heard songs and speeches in a nearby tent.

Guests included senior South African officials, veterans of the fight against white rule and foreign diplomats. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, Britain’s Prince Charles, entrepreneur Richard Branson and former Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai were also there.

Mr Mandela’s portrait was placed behind two rows of candles in the white, dome-shaped marquee. Outside, South African honour guards from the army, navy and air force marched in formation. Mr Mandela’s casket, covered by a national flag, was transported on a military vehicle to the tent, where pallbearers carried it on a red carpet into the tent where guests awaited.

The burial ends 10 days of mourning ceremonies that included a massive stadium memorial in Johannesburg and three days during which Mr Mandela’s body lay in state in the capital, Pretoria.

His casket arrived at the family compound from the capital yesterday. It was accompanied by an enormous convoy of police, military and other vehicles.

Mr Mandela spent 27 years in jail as a prisoner from apartheid, then emerged to lead a delicate transition to democracy when many South Africans feared that the country would sink into all-out racial conflict. He became president in the first all-race elections in 1994.

While South Africa faces many problems, including crime, unemployment and economic inequality, Mr Mandela is seen by many compatriots as the father of their nation and around the world as an example of the healing power of reconciliation.

When the funeral service began, they sang the national anthem in an emotional rendition in which some mourners placed fists over their chests.

“A great tree has fallen, he is now going home to rest with his forefathers,” said Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima, a representative of Mr Mandela’s family. “We thank them for lending us such an icon.”

Nandi Mandela said her grandfather went barefoot to school in Qunu when he was boy and eventually became president and a figure of global import.

“It is to each of us to achieve anything you want in life,” she said, recalling kind gestures by Mandela “that made all those around him also want to do good”.

In the Xhosa language, she referred to her grandfather by his clan name: “Go well, Madiba. go well to the land of our ancestors, you have run your race.”

Ahmed Kathrada, an anti-apartheid activist who was jailed on Robben Island with Mandela, remembered his old friend’s “abundant reserves” of love, patience and tolerance. He said it was painful when he saw Mandela for the last time, months ago in his hospital bed.

“He tightly held my hand, it was profoundly heartbreaking,” Mr Kathrada said, his voice breaking at times. “How I wish I never had to confront what I saw. I first met him 67 years ago and I recall the tall, healthy strong man, the boxer, the prisoner who easily wielded the pick and shovel when we couldn’t do so.”

Some mourners wiped away tears as Mr Kathrada spoke, his voice trembling with emotion.

Mr Mandela’s widow, Grace Machel, and his second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, were dressed in black and sat on either side of South African President Jacob Zuma.

Guests included veterans of the military wing of the African National Congress, the liberation movement that became the dominant political force after the end of apartheid, as well as US Ambassador Patrick Gaspard and other foreign envoys.

The Prince of Wales, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and US television personality Oprah Winfrey were also there.

More than an hour into the service, people were still filling empty seats in parts of the marquee. Soldiers moved in to occupy some chairs.