:00:46. > :00:51.Good evening and welcome to Pretoria, the ninth day of mourning
:00:52. > :00:57.for Nelson Mandela gave us a revealing and different glimpse of
:00:58. > :01:00.Mandela's life, not Mandela the statesman acclaimed by President
:01:01. > :01:05.Obama on Tuesday at the FNB Stadium in Soweto. Not Mandela mourned by
:01:06. > :01:12.the thousands of South Africans who filed past his coffin over the past
:01:13. > :01:15.three days. But Nelson Mandela, the freedom fighter, reclaimed by the
:01:16. > :01:21.organisation that was his home, the ANC, the African National Congress.
:01:22. > :01:24.It was the ANC which fought the battle against apartheid, first
:01:25. > :01:30.peacefully and then under Mandela's leadership, by adopting a policy of
:01:31. > :01:34.violence. A policy which led to his 27 and a half years of imprisonment.
:01:35. > :01:38.It was the ANC which took the lead in negotiating the abolition of
:01:39. > :01:42.apartheid. And it is the ANC which now forms the government of South
:01:43. > :01:49.Africa. All sections of the ANC came to sing his praises and tell the
:01:50. > :01:53.story of the struggle, MK, the military wing of the ANC was here,
:01:54. > :01:56.the commonest party, fighters for women's writes, members of the
:01:57. > :02:01.Mandela family and President Jacob Zuma who himself spent ten years in
:02:02. > :02:04.prison on Robben Island. After the sendoff ceremony was over,
:02:05. > :02:11.Mandela's coffin was placed in the hold of a huge C130 for a short
:02:12. > :02:17.flight to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. Just after midday, the plane
:02:18. > :02:24.took off and Mandela left the capital Pretoria for the last time.
:02:25. > :02:28.Already at face macro, a human chain had formed, an informal guard of
:02:29. > :02:34.honour, with people waiting for his coffin to come past. They did not
:02:35. > :02:42.have to wait too long because the hearse made its way along the road
:02:43. > :02:47.to Mandela's home village of Qunu where the funeral will take place
:02:48. > :02:53.early tomorrow morning. George Alagiah is in Qunu tonight. It may
:02:54. > :02:57.be just a couple of hours flight from Pretoria, but the atmosphere
:02:58. > :03:01.here in Qunu could not be more different. It is a bit like going
:03:02. > :03:05.back in time. Nelson Mandela made the journey several times himself
:03:06. > :03:10.when he was the president. He often said at heart he was a country boy.
:03:11. > :03:15.All eyes are now on a small patch of land behind me. It is unremarkable
:03:16. > :03:19.to look at but after this, it will be forever remembered as the last
:03:20. > :03:29.resting place for one of the world's greatest statesman. From
:03:30. > :03:33.where I am standing, I can just about see into Nelson Mandela's
:03:34. > :03:37.family compound. The big white structure, that is the massive
:03:38. > :03:42.marquee which will host the funeral itself. Away from the compound, in
:03:43. > :03:46.the hills and villages around, there is a real sense that their most
:03:47. > :03:50.famous son has finally come home. There is a tradition here that a
:03:51. > :03:56.person must be buried near where their umbilical chord was buried
:03:57. > :04:03.when they were born. So there is nothing exceptional about Mr Mandela
:04:04. > :04:06.being buried here. Organising an international event in a remote area
:04:07. > :04:10.like this would be tough at the best of times, but the organisers have
:04:11. > :04:14.had to put up with some torrential rain over the last few days, as
:04:15. > :04:19.heavy as anyone can remember at this time of year. I hope that gives you
:04:20. > :04:24.some idea of this corner of the Eastern Cape, which, in a few hours,
:04:25. > :04:27.will become the focus of global attention. When they have spoken
:04:28. > :04:31.about it, the Mandela family themselves have said they do not
:04:32. > :04:36.want this home to become a place of pilgrimage. I suppose they wanted to
:04:37. > :04:39.stay what it was for Mr Mandela himself, a private place where his
:04:40. > :04:45.then some of his happiest times. George, thank you very much. We will
:04:46. > :04:49.be joining George Alagiah from time to time over today and tomorrow. I'm
:04:50. > :04:54.joined by three guests here, Moeletsi Mbeki, a political analyst
:04:55. > :05:01.who is the brother of the former president Thabo Mbeki. Yvonne
:05:02. > :05:05.Muthien who is chair of the President's Advisory Council, and
:05:06. > :05:13.Dial Dayana Ndima, who is a cultural and traditional expert, experts on
:05:14. > :05:17.traditions anyway. Let's deal with today's events. What was the message
:05:18. > :05:28.of today's events compared with those of the previous ceremonies in
:05:29. > :05:31.the last four days? I thought the message was essentially the ANC
:05:32. > :05:35.recounting Nelson Mandela's role as an activist in the ANC. That is how
:05:36. > :05:44.I understood it. Although, of course, there has been some kind of
:05:45. > :05:49.confusion as to whether we were dealing with the ANC or the South
:05:50. > :05:55.African government. This has been one of the problems. But I thought
:05:56. > :06:01.today it was essentially the ANC on its own saying farewell to Mandela.
:06:02. > :06:05.And not using it as a political platform for the elections next
:06:06. > :06:10.year, being dead straight in doing it. I thought they were straight.
:06:11. > :06:14.The elections are months to come. I did not think it would have any
:06:15. > :06:21.impact, even if they tried to use it for elections. Yvonne Muthien, what
:06:22. > :06:26.did you make of it? It is important to remember that Mandela himself
:06:27. > :06:33.said that he was a leader who was chosen by the ANC and that he was a
:06:34. > :06:42.disciplined member of the ANC. And so the success of the struggle, the
:06:43. > :06:48.negotiations that led to him becoming president was due to the
:06:49. > :06:52.ANC. He always used that word disciplined, he said I am a
:06:53. > :06:59.disciplined member and then he took the lead and consulted them after.
:07:00. > :07:06.He also argued that he leads from behind and yet he was very much on
:07:07. > :07:13.the front line. When MK was formed, the military wing, he was one of the
:07:14. > :07:24.first to go out to receive military training. And yes, he was a very
:07:25. > :07:31.determined man. But what does disciplined means? That he does what
:07:32. > :07:38.he is told? He gets them to agree? Indeed. Once he has made up his
:07:39. > :07:45.mind, he has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve. He does listen but
:07:46. > :07:49.then he does what he needs to do anyway. Professor, I will talk to
:07:50. > :07:53.you in a moment about another aspect of this ceremony which people are
:07:54. > :07:58.intrigued about which is the tribal elders but first of all, let's have
:07:59. > :08:05.a look at what did happen today. The day began at Waterkloof Air Force
:08:06. > :08:08.Base. It was a very emotional day organised by the ANC, the
:08:09. > :08:11.organisation which Nelson Mandela belonged to for most of his adult
:08:12. > :08:16.life. The cortege carrying Nelson
:08:17. > :08:20.Mandela's coffin arrived at Waterkloof Air Force Base for a
:08:21. > :08:26.sendoff from the African National Congress, for its last journey home
:08:27. > :08:35.to Qunu. Over 1000 people were there. Among them, President Zuma,
:08:36. > :08:39.Mandela's widow, Graca and his second wife, Winnie. The coffin was
:08:40. > :08:40.draped with the flag of South Africa but was replaced with the flag of
:08:41. > :08:55.the ANC for the ceremony. The service began with the National
:08:56. > :09:22.Anthem, accompanied on a solo violin.
:09:23. > :10:16.The verses of the National Anthem son, as always, in five of the 11
:10:17. > :10:22.languages most commonly sung here. The first tribute was from the trade
:10:23. > :10:34.union movement. We have come here today to give our final sendoff to a
:10:35. > :10:42.soldier who did his work for the ANC with exceptional devotion and
:10:43. > :10:47.excellence. As I was struggling in my mind as to what to say on this
:10:48. > :11:01.occasion today, I came across a piece of a paper entitled I am free.
:11:02. > :11:06.It says, don't cry for me now I am free. I am following the path God
:11:07. > :11:13.laid for me, I took his hand when I heard him call, I turned my back and
:11:14. > :11:21.left it all. I could not stay another day to love, to laugh, work
:11:22. > :11:27.or play, past left undone must stay that way, I found peace at the close
:11:28. > :11:36.of day. If my passing has left a void, then fill it, with remembering
:11:37. > :11:39.joy, friendship shared, I laugh, a kiss, oh yes, the things I too will
:11:40. > :11:59.miss. We want to take a few minutes to
:12:00. > :12:06.send our deepest condolences to Graca Machel, the Mandela family, to
:12:07. > :12:12.the South African nation, the whole African continent, the world and
:12:13. > :12:17.also the African National Congress, Mr President, for giving us this
:12:18. > :12:21.brilliant revolutionaries. May you continue to produce many more
:12:22. > :12:27.revolutionaries and may his fighting spirit live on. Long live the spirit
:12:28. > :12:36.of comrades Nelson Mandela! Long-lived! Forward revolution
:12:37. > :12:40.forward! Thank you. Next we heard from Mandla Mandela who was to
:12:41. > :12:56.accompany his grandfather's coffin back to Qunu.
:12:57. > :13:13.Some years back, when I was only a youngster, I used to hear youth in
:13:14. > :13:23.Soweto shouting. And I used to think I was the popular kid, because my
:13:24. > :13:34.name was being shouted. More profound, they used to say these are
:13:35. > :13:39.Mandela, Viva. And I used to say my name and my surname in the same day,
:13:40. > :13:47.I must be very important! Naive I was because I was just a
:13:48. > :13:54.nine-year-old boy. My president, for the past three days, I have sat with
:13:55. > :14:04.my grandfather while he has been lying in state. I have witnessed his
:14:05. > :14:10.army, I have witnessed his people, I have witnessed ordinary South
:14:11. > :14:16.Africans who walked this Long Walk To Freedom with him. And I can
:14:17. > :14:27.assure the African National Congress today, that the future of this
:14:28. > :14:35.country looks bright. Thank you very much, Mandla.
:14:36. > :14:42.The people's poet recited in honour of Mandela. In 1912, the African
:14:43. > :14:46.National Congress was born. The movement grew from strength to
:14:47. > :14:50.strength, from urban to rural, from rural to the farms, from farms to
:14:51. > :14:57.the hinterlands, from the hinterlands to the valleys. In
:14:58. > :15:01.Africa, the greatest survivor, the survivor who survived all episodes
:15:02. > :15:11.from assassinations, imprisonments, poisoning, orders, banishment,
:15:12. > :15:15.cross-border raids. 100 years of exploitation and oppression. 100
:15:16. > :15:22.years against injustice and tyranny, the ANC for better life,
:15:23. > :15:27.the ANC for total emancipation. The movement produced the current test
:15:28. > :15:32.of the leaders, the movement of people, the movement of
:15:33. > :15:48.visionaries, the spear of the nation, MK at unleashed telling
:15:49. > :15:51.blows. We salute the first black president of a democratic South
:15:52. > :15:57.Africa. I dedicate this poem to the heroes of the struggle. My praising
:15:58. > :16:06.cannot be complete unless I dedicate this praise to comrades Oliver
:16:07. > :16:13.Tambo. The movement has survived all kinds of tragedies from infiltration
:16:14. > :16:18.to abuse, from abuse to betrayal, from betrayal to resistance, from
:16:19. > :16:27.resistance to resilience, from resilience to power and from power
:16:28. > :16:36.to freedom! After those words, composed specially for today, Jacob
:16:37. > :16:40.Zuma delivered his tribute. Today we are saying to Madiba, as
:16:41. > :16:47.you came as a young man in Johannesburg, today, having
:16:48. > :16:57.departed, we are now sending you back to a village at Qunu. We want
:16:58. > :17:10.you to rest in peace there. We want you to always remember and guide
:17:11. > :17:14.us. We are happy that we were still young -- we who are still young will
:17:15. > :17:16.join you later, as you promised to establish a branch of the ANC, we
:17:17. > :17:34.will join you there. Tomorrow we will be saying a final
:17:35. > :17:43.goodbye to Madiba at Qunu, and I'm sure that many of us will be there.
:17:44. > :17:54.We would like to say to Madiba, go well, Tata. You have played your
:17:55. > :17:58.part, you have made your contribution. We will always
:17:59. > :18:11.remember you, we will always keep you in our hearts. We will always
:18:12. > :18:18.learn from your lessons. Amandla! After his speech, President Zuma led
:18:19. > :18:20.the audience in a song specially written for the 100th anniversary of
:18:21. > :19:21.the ANC. Finally, a vote of thanks from the
:19:22. > :19:26.Mandela family. The Mandela family is not the only
:19:27. > :19:30.family that had to share their leader, their father, their
:19:31. > :19:38.grandfather with the African National Congress. Jacob Zuma, Thabo
:19:39. > :19:45.Mbeki and all the former presidents of the African National Congress and
:19:46. > :19:48.their families had to undergo gruelling sacrifice during those
:19:49. > :19:54.days, and I would like to thank them as well.
:19:55. > :20:05.APPLAUSE Good morning. We would also like to
:20:06. > :20:10.thank the organisers of this event. Although our grandfather is
:20:11. > :20:14.receiving a state funeral, the ANC was quite adamant in having this
:20:15. > :20:21.ceremony, and we would like to thank you for this glorious sendoff. We
:20:22. > :20:29.would like to thank all the ordinary members of the ANC. These past few
:20:30. > :20:33.days have been quite difficult, and there were a lot of people who
:20:34. > :20:38.ensured that people were fed and people were well taken care of. We
:20:39. > :20:46.would like to thank you. I must say, from the numbers I see here
:20:47. > :20:58.today, that next year's election should be quite a successful one!
:20:59. > :21:04.CHEERS As we take our grandfather back to his final resting place, you
:21:05. > :21:09.can be sure that there is a commitment from us that when he
:21:10. > :21:14.arrives to the gates of heaven, he will arrive there with his
:21:15. > :21:21.membership card close to him. Thank you.
:21:22. > :21:26.And so ended the ANC farewell to Mandela. His close friend and fellow
:21:27. > :21:28.prisoner joined other ANC party members to escort the coffin out of
:21:29. > :21:45.the hangar at the airbase. And so the ANC, having said their
:21:46. > :21:50.final goodbyes, the military takeover. Nelson Mandela's last
:21:51. > :22:09.journey to his homeland, to Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape.
:22:10. > :22:47.Moeletsi Mbeki, do you feel the ANC think they have achieved everything
:22:48. > :22:52.they set out to achieve? No, I don't think so. I think
:22:53. > :22:57.Mandela's generation felt they achieved what they set out to
:22:58. > :23:03.achieve, which was to get rid of apartheid and to initiate a
:23:04. > :23:08.constitutional, democratic constitution for South Africa. That
:23:09. > :23:15.is what they set out to achieve, that is Mandela's generation, Walter
:23:16. > :23:19.Sisulu, my father, all those people. Their assignment was not to change
:23:20. > :23:24.the economy of South Africa. It was a very specific task that they gave
:23:25. > :23:28.themselves. Now the ANC is in different hands, it is no longer in
:23:29. > :23:34.the Mandela generation. It is in a younger generation, as President
:23:35. > :23:39.Zuma pointed out, and it has a different assignment. We have a
:23:40. > :23:45.democratic country, we have a democratic constitution, but we have
:23:46. > :23:53.hugely different problems, poverty and so on. Because there does seem
:23:54. > :23:57.to be a feeling among ANC members, not the people like you who actually
:23:58. > :24:03.work within the ANC, but the people who vote for the ANC, that somehow
:24:04. > :24:08.apartheid went, as Moeletsi Mbeki says, but what has followed has not
:24:09. > :24:15.been at inspiring or exciting. Yes, there has been rising expectations,
:24:16. > :24:22.and in terms of service delivery, there have been huge challenges. The
:24:23. > :24:28.ideals set out in the constitution make, essentially, very large
:24:29. > :24:36.promises, and 20 years is clearly not sufficient to deliver on those
:24:37. > :24:43.ideals. So the ANC now being the ruling partly, it does have a
:24:44. > :24:49.responsibility to not just grow democracy or consolidates democracy,
:24:50. > :24:52.but also to grow the economy and to make sure that youth unemployment
:24:53. > :24:58.goes down, that the educational system is improved. Do you think
:24:59. > :25:03.people expected faster progress than the ANC has been able to deliver?
:25:04. > :25:08.Most certainly. Why so difficult, then? Well, I think the ruling
:25:09. > :25:15.party, and certainly many of us who went into government during
:25:16. > :25:20.Mandela's time, had underestimated the deep-rooted legacies of
:25:21. > :25:27.apartheid, and we had also underestimated the scale of the
:25:28. > :25:37.transition that we would have to affect, and you can rarely do that
:25:38. > :25:40.in a 20 year period. It would take half a century. Because you were
:25:41. > :25:44.involved in the kind of creation of the image of the state, when chewed
:25:45. > :25:49.you might in charge of designing flags, medals, goodness knows what,
:25:50. > :26:00.so you must have been thinking, we are on our way. Most certainly,
:26:01. > :26:06.there was a great deal of optimism, but there were dedicated men and
:26:07. > :26:14.women who slogged and worked really hard at putting in the key pillars
:26:15. > :26:22.of the new democratic state. And we needed to create a new national
:26:23. > :26:26.identity, a need for new national symbols. Did you expect the degree
:26:27. > :26:32.of corruption that people complain about? It seems to have gone on in a
:26:33. > :26:35.different way, not just failing to deliver but also the allegations
:26:36. > :26:39.against President Zuma and many members of the ANC in government,
:26:40. > :26:47.that they have lined their pockets or their families' pockets? Well...
:26:48. > :26:52.Well, to tell you the honest truth, I didn't. The ANC had been a key
:26:53. > :26:56.organisation, I was in exile for nearly 30 years with the ANC, I
:26:57. > :27:02.never had any evidence of corruption in the ANC. So it was a huge shock
:27:03. > :27:08.to me, anyway, when I started seeing the corruption, and the first
:27:09. > :27:15.corruption I came across was my company, which was a construction
:27:16. > :27:18.company, it wanted to rebuild, to modernise a university by providing
:27:19. > :27:24.proper accommodation for students and a new shopping centre. And it
:27:25. > :27:29.turned out that the land that belongs to the municipality where we
:27:30. > :27:33.were going to build the new shopping centre, the mayor was an ANC mayor
:27:34. > :27:42.anti-had already soldered, illegally, to some business friend.
:27:43. > :27:46.-- and he had already sold it. Let's go back to the celebrations, the
:27:47. > :27:50.huge achievements of apartheid coming to an end and the courage
:27:51. > :27:54.that was shown, but tomorrow, Professor, we go into a slightly
:27:55. > :27:59.different gear, because Mandela's body is now in Qunu, and people are
:28:00. > :28:03.fascinated by what happens now and by what the tribal members of the
:28:04. > :28:07.Thembu tribe will do. Can you explain what it is that happens now
:28:08. > :28:21.that the body is out of the hands of the state Schumacher... That is what
:28:22. > :28:25.happens when a member of the family dies away from home, when he is
:28:26. > :28:35.eventually delivered home, he is received by the elders, who then
:28:36. > :28:39.speak to the body, receiving it, and telling the body the way forward. Do
:28:40. > :28:47.they actually speak out loud to the body, who do they whisper? What
:28:48. > :28:52.happens? They speed light to it. -- they speak loud do it. What will
:28:53. > :28:56.they be saying? It is not something that is cast in stone, it will
:28:57. > :29:01.differ from area to area, from family to family, but the sense is
:29:02. > :29:11.the same. It is that we, your children, your brothers, are now
:29:12. > :29:16.receiving new home for the burial. -- receiving you home. They will be
:29:17. > :29:20.speaking in that way. But would they say, for instance, when he went
:29:21. > :29:24.aboard the plane, would they have been saying... It is difficult to
:29:25. > :29:31.imagine, are they saying, we are going to your home? They would say
:29:32. > :29:36.those things? That is exactly right. When they collected the body, they
:29:37. > :29:42.say the same thing. You are among friends, do not worry, we are taking
:29:43. > :29:49.you home. Yes. And at the funeral, what happens? They go on talking to
:29:50. > :29:54.him? Yes, at the funeral, the same thing, before the body is finally
:29:55. > :29:59.buried, they would talk to the body, now we are taking you to that
:30:00. > :30:04.final resting place we promised to take you to, this is now the time.
:30:05. > :30:07.We will see all of that tomorrow, but let's just have a look at the
:30:08. > :30:12.journey from here in Pretoria to Qunu. It did not take more than an
:30:13. > :30:19.hour and a half or so for the plane to get there, and there, at Mthatha
:30:20. > :30:23.airport, Graca Machel and Winnie, and thousands from his homeland in
:30:24. > :30:27.the Eastern Cape, the place where he came from, were waiting to catch a
:30:28. > :30:36.final glimpse of their hero as the plane came in.
:30:37. > :30:46.A very different countryside here. The Greenhills near where Mr Mandela
:30:47. > :30:54.lived, where he was brought up and that he remembered so fondly. People
:30:55. > :31:00.were waiting but there was a national ceremonial guard here and
:31:01. > :31:02.the band. And also a guard of honour to greet the coffin when the plane
:31:03. > :31:22.finally came to a halt. The pallbearers are senior officers
:31:23. > :31:32.of the Navy, the air force and the army. The band playing and the guard
:31:33. > :31:42.of honour dressed in green. The band in red. All the bands across South
:31:43. > :31:46.Africa are in red so they can join together in one huge ceremonial
:31:47. > :31:52.band. The guard of honour are carrying Lee Enfield rifles, those
:31:53. > :31:54.old-fashioned World War II rifles with bayonets fixed, much easier to
:31:55. > :32:13.do drill with than the modern ones. The Hearst roars up and the bearer
:32:14. > :32:19.party of warrant officers will go into receive the coffin -- the
:32:20. > :32:20.hearse draws up. And then the chaplain will in effect, welcomed
:32:21. > :33:03.the body. The flag of the union of South
:33:04. > :33:12.Africa now has replaced the ANC flag which we saw earlier when the coffin
:33:13. > :33:17.was in Pretoria at that ANC rally. We want to thank you this day for
:33:18. > :33:23.Madiba, that he is safely returned to his home province. We want to
:33:24. > :33:28.thank you for the amazing person, human being that he was. And we want
:33:29. > :33:34.to ask you that you will help us all to have the same spirit of
:33:35. > :33:40.reconciliation, the same attitude of forgiveness and a similar vision for
:33:41. > :33:46.the new South Africa. We want to ask that you will comfort and strengthen
:33:47. > :33:50.and sustain or his family members, relatives, friends and all of us,
:33:51. > :33:54.this day and during this time of sorrow and morning. We make this
:33:55. > :36:37.prayer in your name, amen. Winnie and Graca Machel, comforting
:36:38. > :36:42.each other as they have been over these past few days, whenever they
:36:43. > :36:48.have appeared together in public, and indeed, when Mr Mandela was ill
:36:49. > :37:01.in his home in Houghton, they were frequently there together as well.
:37:02. > :37:07.And so with its military guard running after it, the hearse leaves
:37:08. > :37:14.the runway and sets off on the journey, not a long journey, to
:37:15. > :37:18.Qunu, Nelson Mandela's homeland, Nelson Mandela's home, I should say,
:37:19. > :37:30.the place where he built the house when he came out of jail and wanted
:37:31. > :37:38.to live quietly in retirement. She recently, a strange sight, those
:37:39. > :37:42.carriers which were used in Soweto during the rights to suppress
:37:43. > :37:53.trouble and they are now here taking part in the procession of the coffin
:37:54. > :38:11.followed by the family. Once again, Graca helped into her car by Winnie.
:38:12. > :38:18.After that rather impressive, formal reception of the coffin, the scene
:38:19. > :38:23.changes. My goodness, the reaction here was different really from
:38:24. > :38:29.Pretoria when the procession was going up to the union buildings.
:38:30. > :38:37.This was a much more exuberant reception. Definitely. These are
:38:38. > :38:42.villagers say they express themselves I suppose, more
:38:43. > :38:48.spontaneously. And he is their man, they are proud of him coming back.
:38:49. > :38:49.He's coming home and they are very proud that they have produced a
:38:50. > :39:10.leader of that calibre. All the way along the route,
:39:11. > :39:16.wherever there was a village, there were crowds. It is like a wasteland
:39:17. > :39:23.to go through, just a few houses and you know it well, Professor, this
:39:24. > :39:29.route to Qunu? Yes, I know it. These people on the sides here, they are
:39:30. > :39:44.farm workers, rural people on the whole? Are the industries here, is
:39:45. > :39:45.their work for people here? Yes, but mostly they are peasants from the
:39:46. > :40:01.village. A guard of honour here. There is
:40:02. > :40:11.nobody to hold back. And so he comes to Qunu, yes? That is right. That is
:40:12. > :40:19.his home. And that is his house? Yes. And tonight, the body is in the
:40:20. > :40:27.house, is that right? Yes. And with the family? What happens? Normally,
:40:28. > :40:32.there is a vigil. What does that consist of? Individual consists of
:40:33. > :40:46.the locals, ordinary people, where they will keep awake, sitting
:40:47. > :40:49.around, next to the coffin. And sitting in silence or talking to
:40:50. > :40:59.each other? Praying or just being there. Nowadays it is mostly singing
:41:00. > :41:07.and praying. And religious presence prayers said or not? Yes, why I am
:41:08. > :41:13.saying nowadays is it is mostly religious singing, Kristian songs.
:41:14. > :41:20.What did it used to be? It comes from a culture of the African
:41:21. > :41:27.religion which was different. It was being kept by the elders. Is there
:41:28. > :41:31.an element of that still or is that gradually fading away, the role of
:41:32. > :41:39.the Elders? It is not fading, but now there has been the edition with
:41:40. > :41:45.the addition of the Christian version. But the elders are still
:41:46. > :41:51.part of it. Do you feel it is strong that element? The Christian
:41:52. > :41:59.religion? No, the role of the elders? The slaughter of the
:42:00. > :42:03.animals. Cultural tradition lasts a very long time. Culture brings
:42:04. > :42:08.comfort during time of mourning. Even though the younger generation
:42:09. > :42:15.does not literally always believe in all elements, there is great comfort
:42:16. > :42:20.from following the rituals. In the case of this elder statesman, they
:42:21. > :42:26.assume even higher symbolic significance. Does it make
:42:27. > :42:31.difficulty for government if you have different sources of power, if
:42:32. > :42:37.you have local power in this region and then you are trying to run the
:42:38. > :42:39.modern government? There are constitutional relationships between
:42:40. > :42:44.these different structures, so there is actually a system of how they
:42:45. > :42:51.interface with one another. And remember, the traditional leadership
:42:52. > :42:57.is paid by the government. You mean they do what they are told? I do not
:42:58. > :43:03.know! But they are paid. People who are paid normally do as they are
:43:04. > :43:07.told but not always. One forgets that Mandela's father defied the
:43:08. > :43:12.government, defied the authorities when Mandela was only one-year-old.
:43:13. > :43:19.He defied the magistrate. He lost his land. This was under British
:43:20. > :43:23.rule, he lost as land, lost his cattle and they had to move from the
:43:24. > :43:28.town where he was born to Qunu. Anyway, we will go back to that
:43:29. > :43:34.later on. One of the places the funeral cortege passed through was
:43:35. > :43:39.Ultra City. And in the crowd was Fergal Keane. All week long, people
:43:40. > :43:44.have been waiting for this moment, the point when Nelson Mandela's
:43:45. > :43:49.cortege will arrive back in his own place. It is expected any moment now
:43:50. > :43:56.to pass through here. There is a real sense of celebration of his
:43:57. > :44:00.life. We have been talking to people in the crowd throughout the morning.
:44:01. > :44:04.Many got up after midnight just to get here. They have travelled
:44:05. > :44:11.hundreds of kilometres. What does it mean to you to be here? Basically
:44:12. > :44:16.everything. It is part of who we are, part of our heritage, part of
:44:17. > :44:20.my children's lives, this is our future, being together with all of
:44:21. > :44:29.these people as part of our future. Showing my children where and how
:44:30. > :44:34.somebody might pass, and not having to worry about anything or anybody.
:44:35. > :44:40.Freedom is the most important thing. Without that, what do we have? We
:44:41. > :44:44.have nothing without freedom. There are many children and young people
:44:45. > :44:48.here, part of what is called in South Africa, the born free
:44:49. > :44:57.generation, those who grew up after the end of apartheid, and after the
:44:58. > :45:03.end of nonracial elections in 1994. It is now about 30 minutes until the
:45:04. > :45:06.cortege is expected to pass here. The atmosphere is very relaxed, you
:45:07. > :45:10.can see that the police have been gently asking people to move back, a
:45:11. > :45:26.lot of the time without much success!
:45:27. > :45:33.Now we can see the police outriders and the cortege arriving here. There
:45:34. > :45:37.is a great surge from the crowd. People are chanting, go well, spirit
:45:38. > :45:49.of the nation. You have just seen Nelson Mandela
:45:50. > :45:54.passed to his final journey, what is your feeling at this moment? I am
:45:55. > :45:58.happy and sad at the same time. It is an exciting moment for me,
:45:59. > :46:02.because it is the first time I have seen them, but it is the last time I
:46:03. > :46:06.will see him at the same time, which really hurts me, because he has done
:46:07. > :46:09.a lot for our country, he has made it possible for a number of
:46:10. > :46:13.different races to sit in the same classes and given us a better
:46:14. > :46:17.opportunity in life. Thank you very, very much.
:46:18. > :46:22.Nelson Mandela always said he wanted to be buried in Qunu, I talked to
:46:23. > :46:29.him some years ago about what it was that made this place so very
:46:30. > :46:33.important to him. A narrow grassy valley crisscrossed
:46:34. > :46:39.by clear streams and overlooked by green hills. Nelson Mandela's
:46:40. > :46:43.description of Qunu, the small village in the Eastern Cape where he
:46:44. > :46:48.spent his happiest childhood days. Even as he played there, though,
:46:49. > :46:56.hence could be seen of the man he would become. As a boy, you know, in
:46:57. > :47:03.the countryside, I was one of the most experts stick fighters, but I
:47:04. > :47:07.fought boys, never people who would resist me. I cannot fight somebody
:47:08. > :47:13.who does not resist me. I want to fight somebody who can fight me
:47:14. > :47:20.back. During his time there, he learnt about his heritage. My father
:47:21. > :47:26.was a traditional leader, and both he and my mother had never been to
:47:27. > :47:33.school. And therefore they taught me about the traditions, the customs of
:47:34. > :47:40.our people. The way they taught me about the old stories of bravery
:47:41. > :47:50.amongst our people, you know, I wished I had lived during those
:47:51. > :47:54.days. And they really inspired me. Mandela's father died when he was
:47:55. > :48:01.nine, and he moved away from Qunu and became the ward of the chief of
:48:02. > :48:09.the Thembu clan. Returning 60 years later on his release from prison,
:48:10. > :48:16.Mandela was keen to see Qunu again. My whole world was around this
:48:17. > :48:22.place, but as I grew up, it extended. My roots have not left
:48:23. > :48:27.home, but my gaze is beyond the horizon. He built a home in Qunu and
:48:28. > :48:34.settled once more in the place where his journey had begun.
:48:35. > :48:40.What does this place, Qunu, mean to you? Oh, it means a lot in the sense
:48:41. > :48:48.that I was brought here when I was a baby, and this is where I grew up.
:48:49. > :48:55.So these hills are your home? Oh, yes. It evokes very pleasant
:48:56. > :49:01.memories, my being here. What memories? Of childhood, the stones
:49:02. > :49:09.were used to play, see those dreams? There are stones there where I used
:49:10. > :49:16.to play as a child. The rivers where I fished, they broke very happy
:49:17. > :49:23.memories. Whenever I die, I will be buried here. This is where I am
:49:24. > :49:27.going to be buried. Very adamant that he was going to be
:49:28. > :49:33.buried in Qunu. There was a great dispute, some members of his family,
:49:34. > :49:38.their bodies were moved away, but now they are back in Qunu, within
:49:39. > :49:42.the area of his house. The stones he slid down, he said he slid down so
:49:43. > :49:45.often that he got a sore bottom and could not do it any more! It has
:49:46. > :49:53.been a very big challenge for Qunu to do this, 4500 people coming
:49:54. > :49:56.tomorrow to one of the largest funerals South Africa has ever seen.
:49:57. > :50:01.George Alagiah is there and knows what they are doing. George.
:50:02. > :50:05.You can just imagine the frantic last-minute arrangements going on in
:50:06. > :50:09.the Mandela family compound behind me. Although they have had months,
:50:10. > :50:13.perhaps even years to plan this event, nothing could actually be
:50:14. > :50:17.built or visit until the last few days. Now, all along, the funeral
:50:18. > :50:24.has been billed as the most private event in this week of national
:50:25. > :50:27.mourning that we have seen, but it is not the kind of privacy that you
:50:28. > :50:30.or I would recognise. There are up to 5000 guests, and that has been
:50:31. > :50:33.the challenge all along for the organisers. Nelson Mandela belonged
:50:34. > :50:37.to the whole world, so tonight his body will be kept in the family
:50:38. > :50:45.home. Now, I am no expert, but under the tradition of the Xhosa speaking
:50:46. > :50:49.people, it will be the jobs of the elders to reunite Mr Mandela's
:50:50. > :50:53.spirit with his mortal remains, and this is done by apparently talking
:50:54. > :50:57.to the person, reminding them of significant places and people. We
:50:58. > :51:00.think there will be two distinct parts to the funeral service
:51:01. > :51:05.tomorrow, the first part will be the state funeral for a former
:51:06. > :51:10.president. The second part will be a traditional ceremony, presided over
:51:11. > :51:14.by the local king. Mr Mandela belonged to a minor branch of that
:51:15. > :51:19.Royal Family, so we will see BIP is arriving, then the family will take
:51:20. > :51:24.the coffin from the house, up the gravel path to the marquee a little
:51:25. > :51:29.way up that hill. -- VIPs. Inside there will be an orchestra, a choir,
:51:30. > :51:34.and then a much smaller group will attend the actual burial itself. As
:51:35. > :51:39.I have reported on the events of the week a theme has emerged, and Trent
:51:40. > :51:42.to bring together the different strands of his life. You see, he
:51:43. > :51:47.meant different things to different people, and for his beloved ANC was
:51:48. > :51:51.an unrivalled political figure, for the world he was a symbol of moral
:51:52. > :51:57.authority, and of course for the people here he is simply a returning
:51:58. > :52:01.son. George touches on an interesting
:52:02. > :52:05.point there, which is the different ways in which Nelson Mandela is
:52:06. > :52:08.perceived. I have to say, if you can hear the noise on the roof, we are
:52:09. > :52:12.in the middle of a summer storm with lightning flashing around us, but I
:52:13. > :52:15.think we are in the middle of a summer storm with lightning flashing
:52:16. > :52:24.around us, but I think we as a sign of somebody who, quite genuinely,
:52:25. > :52:30.was in one way was a very simple person who held onto his roots. That
:52:31. > :52:36.is. Mandela was essentially quite a modest man. -- that is correct.
:52:37. > :52:45.Despite the international recognition and accolades, he was
:52:46. > :52:48.very grounded. I recall stories of when he had first become president,
:52:49. > :52:56.and he would travel on international state visits, and he would ask his
:52:57. > :53:00.Director-General to help him but the mattress on the floor so that they
:53:01. > :53:04.could sleep comfortably, but to come very early to put the mattress back
:53:05. > :53:13.on the bed in order not to offend his hosts. So, in many respects, he
:53:14. > :53:22.remained humble, yet he was quite aware of his leadership capability
:53:23. > :53:25.and power, and his ability to move things and to move people. And he
:53:26. > :53:35.used people. Andy Hughes did effectively. How would those
:53:36. > :53:38.qualities... And he used it effectively. How would those
:53:39. > :53:44.qualities have been sustained during his time in jail? That gives a lot
:53:45. > :53:51.of time for reflection... Far too much time! But what one does not
:53:52. > :53:57.often see is the dark moments that he had and the self-doubt as to
:53:58. > :54:03.whether he did the right thing. His convictions never wavered, but
:54:04. > :54:10.certainly, when Winnie Mandela had been tortured and in solitary
:54:11. > :54:16.confinement, and the children were left alone, that really, really put
:54:17. > :54:21.him through his darkest moments. And of course, when his son died, and
:54:22. > :54:28.the head of the prisons would not give him permission to bury his own
:54:29. > :54:34.son, he went through quite a dark moments of depression, and Walter
:54:35. > :54:42.Sisulu had to kind of help him through that. Of course, your father
:54:43. > :54:46.was also in Robben Island. Did he have a similar experience to Nelson
:54:47. > :54:50.Mandela in terms of coming in as one kind of person and emerging, in a
:54:51. > :54:57.sense, as a different sort of person, more assured and confident
:54:58. > :55:05.about where the ANC was going? Well, first, in my father's family, no-one
:55:06. > :55:12.died, as happened in the case of Mandela. I think his mother also
:55:13. > :55:18.died when he was in prison. Yes. So we did not have that experience. Did
:55:19. > :55:24.you get to see him? I was in exile, so I couldn't go and see him. But
:55:25. > :55:31.they were so determined, that was one of the most striking things
:55:32. > :55:36.about it. When I eventually met my father after 30 or so years, it was
:55:37. > :55:41.like we had never left, because we had all been working on the same
:55:42. > :55:47.thing, which is how to get rid of this evil apart aid regime. --
:55:48. > :55:52.apartheid regime. So the dialogue restarted where it had ended in the
:55:53. > :55:57.1950s. No hesitation among the people who had been 20 or 25 years
:55:58. > :56:03.in Robben Island? Nobody backsliding? None whatsoever. They
:56:04. > :56:07.were very determined, they were very clear what the objective was, they
:56:08. > :56:13.were very clear what needed to be done in order to achieve the
:56:14. > :56:19.objective, and my father never talked about prison, for example.
:56:20. > :56:23.You might make a joke about some experience, but he never talked
:56:24. > :56:27.about prison. At what point do you think they decided that they would
:56:28. > :56:34.win, or maybe they realised they would win? Well, that is a very
:56:35. > :56:42.difficult question to answer! It is meant to be! Because, actually, when
:56:43. > :56:46.the negotiations started, the South African government was at its
:56:47. > :56:51.strongest point, because it had been at war in Angola and in the movie,
:56:52. > :56:57.and so the negotiations actually started when the South African army
:56:58. > :57:03.was back in South Africa. -- in the media. There were piece agreements
:57:04. > :57:08.with the Angolans and the Cubans, so it was at its strongest. I do not
:57:09. > :57:15.think they thought that this was a winning moment. You do not think
:57:16. > :57:20.they thought, one day our strategy will work? There was a believe that
:57:21. > :57:23.freedom would come, but it was a hard slog, the negotiations were
:57:24. > :57:29.hard work, and both sides had to give quite a lot. And the decision
:57:30. > :57:36.about when to start talking? Yes, well, that was made in prison, and
:57:37. > :57:43.as you know, Madiba's cohort, they were not all agreed that they should
:57:44. > :57:48.negotiate, in fact, that the struggle should continue, but he
:57:49. > :57:51.managed to persuade them. Professor, we have coming to the end of this,
:57:52. > :57:57.but the elders at this moment are sitting around the coffin in Qunu,
:57:58. > :58:02.is that right? Yes. And talking to the body? They would have talked to
:58:03. > :58:06.it when it arrived. And they will spend the night just in vigil Jim
:58:07. > :58:11.Mack we will hear more about it tomorrow. You are with us tomorrow,
:58:12. > :58:17.I think, thank you very much for coming in. It is very nice to have
:58:18. > :58:21.you here. That ends this look back at today's events, Nelson Mandela's
:58:22. > :58:28.last journey is nearly over. Tonight the coffin stays at his home in
:58:29. > :58:32.Qunu, and tomorrow we will be back at 5:30am on BBC One for the state
:58:33. > :58:35.funeral and the burial of the former president in the grounds of his home
:58:36. > :58:36.in Qunu. I hope you will be able to join us then. Until then, good
:58:37. > :58:40.night.