Tribal leaders and faith groups pay tribute to Nelson Mandela
The former president and Nobel peace prize winner died on December 5 last year, after a long illness.
Tributes came in from across the globe with US leader Barack Obama labelling Mandela a visionary who remains an enduring source of inspiration.
“One year ago the world lost a leader whose struggle and sacrifices inspired us to stand up for our fundamental principles, whose example reminded us of the enduring need for compassion, understanding, and reconciliation, and whose vision saw the promise of a better world,” Mr Obama said in a statement. In a sombre ceremony attended by government officials, diplomats and South Africans of different races, speaker after speaker lauded the icon. “He fought for freedom and for freedom he was prepared to die,” said Ahmed Kathrada, a prominent anti-apartheid activist imprisoned for years with Mandela. “That was the Madiba we always remember: a father, a family man, and above all the people’s man.”And resting alongside his struggle brothers and sisters, Mandela was happy, said his widow Graca Machel. “Madiba is, in spirit, the same even today,” she said, “I know Madiba is smiling, Madiba is happy because he is among the family he chose to build.”
Mandela was buried on December 15 at Qunu, his ancestral village in the Eastern Cape region.
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