The casket of former South African President Nelson Mandela is transported on a gun carriage before his funeral service in Qunu, South Africa, Sunday, December 15, 2013.QUNU, South Africa – Big guns fired a salute in the rural village where Nelson Mandela grew up and military servicemen marched stiffly behind his casket on a winding dirt road Sunday as South Africa said goodbye for the last time to the man who reconciled the country in its most vulnerable period.
Several thousand guests, some singing and dancing, gathered in a huge tent at the family compound of the anti-apartheid leader, who died Dec. 5 at the age of 95 after a long illness.
Guests included senior South African officials, veterans of the fight against white rule and foreign diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Patrick Gaspard. Britain’s Prince Charles, entrepreneur Richard Branson and former Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai were also there.
Mandela’s portrait was placed behind two rows of candles in the white, dome-shaped marquee. Outside, South African honor guards from the army, navy and air force marched in formation. 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.
After the funeral ceremony, a smaller group of guests was to attend Mandela’s burial at a family grave site on the estate in Qunu, a rural village in Eastern Cape province.