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| President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to speak at the memorial service for former South African president Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium in the Johannesburg, South Africa township of Soweto, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. World leaders, celebrities, and citizens from all walks of life gathered on Tuesday to pay respects during a memorial service for the former South African president and anti-apartheid icon. |
OHANNESBURG (AP)
-- Amid cheers and song for the prisoner who became peacemaker,
President Barack Obama energized tens of thousands of spectators and
nearly 100 visiting heads of state Tuesday with a plea for the world to
emulate Nelson Mandela, "the last great liberator of the 20th century."
Obama's
eulogy was the rhetorical highlight of a memorial service in which
South Africans celebrated Mandela's life with singing and dancing, often
during dignitaries' speeches. They also booed their own president and
were chided by a top government official who said: "Let's not embarrass
ourselves."
Lashing rain lent a freewheeling
aspect to the memorial, with people taking shelter in the stadium's wide
hallways, where they sang anti-apartheid anthems from the 1970s and
1980s. Foul weather kept many away, and the 95,000-capacity stadium was
only two-thirds full.
Obama implored people to
embrace Mandela's universal message of peace and justice, comparing the
South African leader to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and
Abraham Lincoln. Mandela spent 27 years in prison under a racist regime,
and promoted forgiveness and reconciliation when he was finally freed.
"We
will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again," 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."
He
hailed Mandela, who died Thursday at 95, as the unlikely leader of a
movement that gave "potent voice to the claims of the oppressed and the
moral necessity of racial justice. "
"Born
during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised
herding cattle and tutored by the elders of his Thembu tribe, Madiba
would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century," Obama
said, referring to Mandela by his clan name.
Obama,
who like Mandela became the first black president of his country, said
he was inspired by Mandela as a student. The speech was greeted with
thunderous applause, and many heads of state and other foreign
dignitaries gave a standing ovation.
Obama
pointed out that "around the world today, men and women are still
imprisoned for their political beliefs, and are still persecuted for
what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love."
Among
the heads of state and government were some from countries like Cuba
that don't hold fully democratic elections. On the way to the podium,
Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro, underscoring a
recent warming of relations between their countries.
Other
attending leaders criticized for their human rights records were
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema and
Gambia's Yahya Jammeh.
In contrast to the wild
applause given to Obama, South African President Jacob Zuma was booed.
Many South Africans are unhappy with Zuma because of state corruption
scandals, though his ruling African National Congress, once led by
Mandela, remains the front-runner ahead of elections next year.
Mandela's
record after he was elected in the first all-race elections in 1994 has
faced some criticism, most of it indirect because he is such a revered
figure.
He did not push for major
restructuring of the economy, fearing it could alienate whites who still
control most of South African industry. Today, the country struggles
with economic inequality, though Mandela's moral stature sets him far
apart from his successors.
"Mandela was a very
humble man, and he gave himself to the world. He sacrificed time with
his family for us and for me. It is a privilege to be here, it is a
humbling experience," said 35-year-old Dipolelo Moshe, who works for a
marketing company.
She had a South African flag draped over her shoulders and carried a big photo of Mandela as she stood in line at the stadium.
Rohan
Laird, the 54-year-old CEO of a health insurance company, said he grew
up during white rule in a "privileged position" as a white South African
and that Mandela helped whites work through a burden of guilt.
"His
reconciliation allowed whites to be released themselves," Laird said.
"I honestly don't think the world will see another leader like Nelson
Mandela."
A dazzling mix of royalty, statesmen and celebrities was in attendance.
Thabo
Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela as president, got a rousing cheer as he
entered the stands. French President Francois Hollande and his
predecessor and rival, Nicolas Sarkozy, arrived together.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon waved and bowed to spectators as he called Mandela "one of our greatest teachers."
"He taught by example. He sacrificed so much ... for freedom and equality, for democracy and justice," Ban said.
Mandela's
widow, Graca Machel, and his former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela,
gave each other a long hug before the ceremonies began.
Actress Charlize Theron, model Naomi Campbell and singer Bono were among the celebrities paying final tribute.
Symbolically,
Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of the day when Mandela and South
Africa's last apartheid-era president, F.W. de Klerk, received the Nobel
Peace Prize. De Klerk, a political rival who became friends with
Mandela, was also in the stadium.
In his Nobel
acceptance speech at the time, Mandela said: "We live with the hope
that as she battles to remake herself, South Africa will be like a
microcosm of the new world that is striving to be born."
The rain was seen as a blessing among many of South Africa's majority black population.
"Only
great, great people are memorialized with it," said Harry Tshabalala, a
driver for the justice ministry.
"Rain is life. This is perfect weather
for us on this occasion."
People blew on
vuvuzelas, the plastic horn that was widely used during the 2010 World
Cup soccer tournament in South Africa, and sang songs from the era of
the anti-apartheid struggle decades earlier.
"It
is a moment of sadness celebrated by song and dance, which is what we
South Africans do," said Xolisa Madywabe, CEO of a South African
investment firm.
After Tuesday's memorial,
Mandela's body will lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings
in Pretoria, once the seat of white power, before burial Sunday in his
rural childhood village of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province.
