Mandela’s body arrives for public viewing in Pretoria

The coffin of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, draped in the multi-colored South African flag, arrived Wednesday at the seat of power in the country's capital for public viewing.

People cheer as the funeral cortege carrying the coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela leaves the 1 Military Hospital on the outskirts of Pretoria today, on its way to the Union BuilShow more

PRETORIA // The coffin of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, draped in the multi-coloured South African flag, arrived Wednesday at the seat of power in the country’s capital for public viewing.

Motorcycle-riding police officers escorted the casket from 1 Military Hospital outside of Pretoria to the Union Buildings, once a symbol of the white-dominated government in the country. When Mandela took office, he used the building as his offices and the presidency is still located there.

Some residents of Pretoria lined the streets to watch the procession go by. They sang old struggle songs and called out their farewells to Mandela, who died December 5 at the age of 95.

Soldiers in formal uniforms carried Mandela's coffin into the Union Buildings to a special viewing centre built inside the building's amphitheatre, which President Jacob Zuma named after Mandela by decree yesterday.

Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days. On Wednesday, Mandela family members, government officials and world leaders are expected to pass by the coffin. It’s unclear whether it will be an open- or closed-casket viewing, though officials have banned cameras from being inside the viewing area.

Each day, Mandela’s coffin will be driven back to 1 Military Hospital to be held overnight.

Mandela’s body will be flown Saturday to Qunu, his home in the Eastern Cape Province. He will be buried Sunday.

Yesterday, world leaders including US President Barack Obama, eulogised Mandela. In his speech, Obama called Mandela "the last great liberator of the 20th century".

“We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again,” Mr Obama said. “But let me say to the young people of Africa, and young people around the wo-rld – you can make his life’s work your own.”

* Associated Press