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The military plane carrying Nelson Mandela's body has arrived in East
Cape province, headed for a state funeral in his ancestral village of
Qunu, a 40km journey from Mthatha airport.
Mandela, whose coffin is draped with the national flag, will be laid to rest on Sunday in a private affair barred to both the public and the media.
The journey to the small village started on Saturday shortly after the governing ANC paid its last respects to the man who led it to power, becoming the country's first black president after a long and painful struggle against racist, white-minority rule.
Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from East Cape, said many people in the province viewed Mandela, who rose from a humble background to lead Africa's most powerful nation, as a "source is inspiration" and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of his coffin.
In a keynote address delivered in Pretoria in honour of Mandela, President Jacob Zuma hailed Madiba, the clan name by which the Nobel laureate was known, as a "man of action".
"Since the day our leader passed on, we have remembered him in a very special way. We have received messages of condolences from around the world," Zuma said.
He said Mandela, who joined the ANC in his early 20s, was able to "combine theory and practice", making it easy for him to practise what he preached.
Earlier, Mandela's grandson, Mandla, gave a speech about the former president's long struggle for freedom.
Mandela, who was battling a chronic lung infection for months, died last Thursday at the age of 95.
Mandela, whose coffin is draped with the national flag, will be laid to rest on Sunday in a private affair barred to both the public and the media.
The journey to the small village started on Saturday shortly after the governing ANC paid its last respects to the man who led it to power, becoming the country's first black president after a long and painful struggle against racist, white-minority rule.
Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from East Cape, said many people in the province viewed Mandela, who rose from a humble background to lead Africa's most powerful nation, as a "source is inspiration" and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of his coffin.
In a keynote address delivered in Pretoria in honour of Mandela, President Jacob Zuma hailed Madiba, the clan name by which the Nobel laureate was known, as a "man of action".
"Since the day our leader passed on, we have remembered him in a very special way. We have received messages of condolences from around the world," Zuma said.
He said Mandela, who joined the ANC in his early 20s, was able to "combine theory and practice", making it easy for him to practise what he preached.
Earlier, Mandela's grandson, Mandla, gave a speech about the former president's long struggle for freedom.
Mandela, who was battling a chronic lung infection for months, died last Thursday at the age of 95.
On Sunday, some 5,000 people, including foreign dignitaries, are
expected to participate in a formal, two-hour ceremony beginning at 8am
(0600 GMT).
The funeral procession from the airport to Qunu will be led by the
armed forces and Mandela will receive a 21-gun salute and a flyover by
the South African Air Force.
Since his death at his Johannesburg home on December 5, South
Africans have turned out in pouring rain and blistering sunshine to say
goodbye to the man they viewed as a liberator.
Tens of thousands packed a soaked stadium in Soweto for a memorial
service on Tuesday, which was attended by more than 70 world leaders.
Up to 100,000 people filed past Mandela's open-casket for the three
days it was displayed at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of
government where he was inaugurated two decades earlier.
Crushing disappointment
Crushing disappointment
Hundreds of people pushed through a police cordon on Friday in a last-gasp bid to see his body before his coffin was closed.
Outside the perimeter, there was crushing disappointment for tens of
thousands of mourners unable to pay their final respects to the man
whose journey from prisoner to president transformed South Africa and
inspired the world.
"We really thought this was the day. But again we did not get to see the old man," said Lydia More, 31, who got in line at 7am.
"We just feel empty. It's so sad," she said.
