Former South African president Nelson Mandela was laid to rest on Sunday in his boyhood village of Qunu.
Hundreds of high-profile mourners, including heads of state, descended on the remote location in the southeastern part of his country to bid farewell to the anti-apartheid icon who died on Dec. 5 at the age of 95.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who spent 27 years in prison on charges of sabotage and treason, was memorialized in a ceremony on Tuesday attended by U.S. President Barack Obama, kings, princes and princesses, stars including U2’s Bono, Naomi Campbell and Charlize Theron, and several thousand South Africans who stood in the rain to say goodbye to their beloved Madiba.
Describing Mandela as “a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world,” Obama said the beloved leader “changed laws, but he also changed hearts.”
Following the memorial service, Mandela’s flag-draped coffin was transported through the streets of South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, before being placed in an amphitheater overlooking the Union Buildings, close to where he’d been sworn in as the country’s first democratically elected president in 1994.
His body lay in state for three days and South Africans began lining up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday and stood for hours for one last chance to see Mandela.
On Saturday, Mandela’s coffin was flown to Mthatha, and thousands of mourners lined the streets leading from the airport to the village of Qunu.
Once at Mandela’s home, the flag covering his coffin was replaced with a traditional Xhosa blanket, symbolizing the return of a family member. And at dusk, his family along with local chiefs and leaders of the ANC political party gathered for a private night vigil.
The burial plot on the grounds of Mandela’s home had been specially prepared for him, alongside the graves of family members. He was buried at midday, amid the hills where he’d run and played as a child.
People Magazine
