Nelson Mandela's Memorial Service

Nelson Mandela's Funeral
A Solemn Farewell

World revered South African anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in prison, led his country to democracy and became its first black president, has died. He was 95. Mandela died of a lung infection on 5 December 2013. His funeral was held a week later. This is a brief account of the event.

On 11 Dec 2013, the black hearse carrying Mandela's flag-draped casket, flanked by 16 motorcycle outriders, rolled out of the city's Military Hospital onto streets lined with flag-waving South Africans. It was a solemn journey through the streets of Pretoria, a final journey full of symbolism and landmarks that distilled the story of his life into a single idea - freedom. Awkwardly, as if re-enacting his struggle, the procession passed through the central prison where he was jailed in 1962 for incitement, and the Palace of Justice where he stood trial in 1963-64 for treason and sabotage.

Arriving at the seat of South Africa's government, the Union Buildings, where Mandela's body will lie in state for three days, the casket was unloaded by eight pallbearers and carried up the steps of the central Union Building. Mandela's open coffin was placed on a platform in the amphitheatre. National leaders, statesmen and celebrities from all over the world passed by the casket in two lines. Among those who paid their last respects was F.W. de Klerk, the last president of white-ruled South Africa.

The funeral procession will be repeated for three days, each time ending at the same place - the Union Buildings. The public will be allowed to view the casket each afternoon, before Mandela's body is moved to his boyhood home in Qunu for burial on Sunday.

US President Barrack Obama, speaking at the memorial service at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, thanked South Africa for "sharing Mandela with the world". True to the towering figure that Mandela was, the memorial was attended by friend and foe alike. In such a situation, the FNB Stadium reeked of history and current affairs laden with conflict and reconciliation. Archbishop Desmond Tutu sat with FW de Klerk; Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe, who represents everything Mandela ever fought against, sat with other African heads of state opposed to his regime; and the likes of Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the UK's David Cameron mingled with staunch opponents of western liberal democracy.

A confounding mishmash, but they all came together to pay their last respects to a man who made his 'long walk to freedom' an inspiration for generations to come in the name of peace, justice, freedom and equality.