Johannesburg: South Africans are mourning a woman celebrated for her role in the fight against apartheid, and for her nurturing of a new generation of leaders.
Crowds singing hymns and songs from the anti-apartheid era began gathering hours before Albertina Sisulu's funeral service on Saturday at a 40,000 seat football stadium in Soweto. The service followed a week of national mourning.
Officials of the governing African National Congress fanned out to every province to lead a series of memorial services. President Jacob Zuma, who is to deliver the eulogy, declared an official funeral — as close as possible to a state funeral reserved for presidents — "befitting for a leader of her stature”.
Sisulu collapsed and died at her Johannesburg home on June 02 at the age of 92.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, June 11, 2011, 15:40