you're watching al jazeera. what should normally with the start of the news hour as we bring you live pictures from qunu in south africa there. archbishop desmond tutu, a man who made the headlines yesterday for i'm sure what he felt were all the wrong reasons, the suggestion being that he wouldn't being at the funeral, the man who has been a friend of nelson mandela's for many, many years said he hadn't been invited. he wouldn't want to gate crash. pretty soon after that a decision was reversed, and

members of the organizing party said it had all been a terrible misunderstanding. so desmond tutu there amongst though. we imagine although we can't be absolutely certain now walking to the gravesite, and after the last pace we'll hear the sound of rubali. the military paul pallbearers were retreat and the bishop himself, nelson mandela was the methodist persuasion, if you'd like. although he never publicly stated it, this was understood to be the branch of the anglican church he favored. there will be the committal

service by bishop dabuli. and then we saw him inside the marquis, a retired member of the military, reached the rank of general. he was a close friend of nelson mandela's and he was the man that mandela asked to put together all of the arrangements for this ten-day period of not just mourning but reflection, celebration. and look being to the future. bantu will give a vote of thanks to those present. there will be a benediction by bishop dabula, and that, as we understand it, is the last of the ceremonial part of this day. let's bring in jenna howe, my

colleague. i don't know whether you can see down into the hill and see those leaving the marquis and heading off to the grave site, but there's two very different parties here. those there for the private part of the ceremony and those for whom the funeral has now finished. >> reporter: yes, it seems that way. transport arrangements suggest they'll all be taken away at 4:00 this afternoon. i'm not sure what they'll be doing between now and then, but the private family parties including a small number of invited guests, dignitaries, clergy that you see there making their way down the road about 500 meters from the giant tent that was erected to house the funeral. at 2:00 the mandela burial plot. perhaps if i step aside then and take you in with the camera and have a look at the lay of the land there. we're quite away from it, as you can see, but perhaps you can see

in your screen on the right-hand side the zeppelin-like tent in which the funeral took place. on the left hand side a black square structure that has seating for 400 or so people in front of the burial plot. it's been covered up so you can't see anything of it. there's a no-fly zone enforced here to make sure no helicopter go up to take pictures of it. this is the wishes of the family. they didn't want anyone else to see this moment when nelson mande mandela's remains are interned into the ground. >> how will we know it's infished and time to draw a curtain on this, or is it simply an occasion when people dissipate and you have to assume that's the last we will see of any of this surrounding the

death of nelson mandela? >> reporter: well, david, i'm afraid you're doing it again. you're asking me something i don't know the answer to. it hasn't been made clear. they've been practicing a part for a day now, and perhaps that will take place to mark the moment when it's over. i should point out that it was extremely heartening a moment ago to see archbishop desmond tutu. you menninged the controversy that suddenly arose on saturday when it became clear that archbishop tutu wasn't on the list and wouldn't be coming. the south african government skirting another enormous p.r. disaster potentially there. >> i have to ask you how do you think it happened? how could that have happened at all? >> reporter: well, there are two

versions of it, david, and one must choose which one to believe. tutu's people say that he was never contacted or invited. the government has said, well, we didn't invite anybody specifically. they say his name was always on the guest list. a source within and close to the mandela family has privately confirmed to al jazeera that there was a list of invited clergy and religious leaders. archbishop was number six on that list, and only the top five were, in fact, called to come here. so it does seem as though he was snubbed. of course, archbishop tutu is this enormous figure to all of us internationally and all of south africa in recent years has not made any friends in the current hierarchy in the current government and even amongst the relatives of nelson mandela. he's been critical of the government of the party and of squabbles within the family. they may have preferred to not have him there. that would have been a travesty,

david. it would have been overshadowed by the booing of zuma at the service and a fake sign interpreter by barack obama as he spoke and the absence of a figure as huge of desmond tutu from the funeral of his life-long friend nelson mandela. >> i promise not to ask a question that you can't answer. you turned it around to my advantage and gave me much more color than i expected. we told you later on. jonah, thank you very much. mike hanna in johannesburg has been watching the entire service with us. four hours, much longer than many people expected but full of substance and warming tributes. >> reporter: very much so. it was a funeral that had been planned for a long time despite the death being only ten days

ago. it was what nelson mandela always insisted on, a traditional funeral. one in which his comrades came together. one in which his family came and were there. it was the funeral that nelson mandela had planned himself, it would appear, and yes, you had the members of state, the head of state making the eulogy, but that was proceeded of a struggle song, a song that was sung to freedom warriors. it was from a time when he operated as a trained guerrilla and a time where the spirit of the nation was. the time that he was a fighter, and many who has grown up since his release from prison 23 years ago have lost that history, the fact that this was a soldier not just a politician, not just an benign nobel peace prizewinner.

jacob zuma singing that song at the beginning of his eulogy was making clear the context in which nelson mandela should be remembered along with all the greatness he has achieved. i'm joined here by the chief executor of the nelson mandela foundation, one of the legacy bodies of nelson mandela and of his name. firstly, you watched the funeral and saw the respect, the dignity. what went through your mind when you saw nelson mandela finally go? >> i think it was a fitting tribute to the life well-lived. i think south africans have this image that we shouldn't just be crying at this moment and mourning his passing, but we should be celebrating because madiba got 95 years, but he also gave 67 years of his life of

service. then he retired three times, and i think those three retirements were preparing us for what was coming. even when it came, you still had the sense of loss, the deep sense of loss. we feel left with that. some of the staff members of the nelson mandela foundation have served nelson mandela for over 20 years. it's encouraging to them to see how they have pulled together in the last ten days. we're hoping that we at the nelson mandela foundation together with the other two legacy institutions, nelson mandela children's fund and the mandela house foundation will help keep the legacy alive. >> reporter: we've had much talk of the legacy over this mourning period. what is the tangible legacy that you all see through organizations like yours? >> you look at madiba loved children, for example, and the work of the nelson mandela children's fund, it's important that we support their work to ensure that the children are treated well, that we don't have

stories of children that are raped. that we have stories of children that go missing. those things then get reduced. in terms of the mandela foundation, there's issues of leadership in the continent. if we can have a change in terms of how the continent leads, where leaders stay forever, we can then have the legacy of mandela. then in the nelson mandela foundation we have them in johannesburg where we have exhibitions on site and we can host people in the new year. we'd like to have viewers come visit us to come and share in the legacy. we also have a dialogue process that we have. we have just launched one with pictures of an international nature where it's people from 12 countries were talking about how

we're dealing with our past. >> it would be important, i think, and i think that it's something that nelson mandela himself would stress and he has repeatedly stressed in the past, we are mourning one man, an individual, but he was the son -- sum of his many parts. he was the son of the struggle movement that involved so many people from whom now passed. we heard the names repeated, repeated. it's fitting perhaps at the end of the funeral service to remember that nelson mandela was not by himself. he was part of a massive organization of many, many people who gave their lives in many cases. >> i think the important thing and the significant point to make that nelson mandela himself was uncomfortable with this notion that he was really the only person that made the movement possible, but he had many people around him who made what we have in south africa

possible. i think that for the first time in many years we have those people even getting their own identities, their names are mentioned. i think it's important that we have that. but also, this notion of nelson mandela being a saint for the first time and it's been challenged a lot that we at the nelson mandela foundation have been saying let's do what the man himself wants us to do, which is to know he doesn't consider himself a saint even by definition that he says. i think that's something we should have, and i like the fact that you mentioned the fact that he was a member of the organization and he was the commander of chief. he was not a nice old man but a man that fought for freedom in the true sense of the word. >> reporter: thank you for joining us, the chief executor of the mandela foundation putting in context a man who was

not just an individual, who himself was personally opposed to the cult of the individual. a man who would be first to acknowledge all those thousands who fought a war for liberation with him. back to you. >> appropriately, mike, as you say that, we see the new south afri africa's military might represented there by members of the navy, members of the air force lining the route of possibly 400, 500 meters away from the white marquis up the hill to the family burial site. we did see earlier archbishop desmond tutu. we can see there, jesse jackson, the american civil rights leader, and a great friend of

nelson mandela's. richard branson, the u.k. businessman and entrepreneur who put down some of his philanthropy to nelson mandela. in that crowd, too, oprah winfrey. again, somebody it has been suggested developed her keen sense of civil rights from watching the example of nelson mandela in his years in prison and the years afterwards serving his country. well, not very far from there the villages of empa, neighbors to qunu, have been watching proceedings with a mixture of sadness and a little bit of bitterness, it has to be said, hara, even though they're

related in many ways through the areas in which they live and work and by family that they have not been included as part of this final farewell. >> reporter: yes, it's basically all the people. they really feel that way. we see members of the families and vips headed towards the burial site. they didn't care about the actual ceremony. that's ha they wanted to do. these the pictures they see now. people are coming out, a bit more of them sitting outside here. we're going to speak to one young man, who is also here to watch the proceeding. you've been watching the screen. how do you feel about what you see? >> i feel good that i'm here and i'm watching the funeral. i'm glad that we have been given the opportunity to see what is going on in the funeral. i don't feel excluded that i'm not there. i'm thankful that i'm here now

and watching and i experienced what is going on there. >> reporter: how do some of the older feel people? why do they feel they should be there? >> they feel they should be there just because they say this is their land, their madiba is their people. they feel maybe they're being excluded, and they should be there. that's not the problem that they're not there. the fact that we are given the screen and we are seeing what's going on there, it's important to us because we cannot be there. all of us of south africa want to go there. that would be irrelevant for the funeral as well. >> reporter: thank you very much. david, one of a few people who have come out to watch the big screens, some of them lining up here, different ages, young and old, men and women from this particular village. they're watching that screen up there. they can see the actual

procession going on. they're trying to get as much as they can, and that's how close they are. here the older people say things like they can't get close, you know. they get quite upset, because they're fairly close to the marquis where the whole procession is taking place, and they really want to be there. if you turn to the tent here, you see some of them. look at their faces, clapping at the screen. you know, they're far away, but when they see the procession, look at how happy they are. they're looking at screen, you know. they can't be there in person, but at least here they can see what's going on. they're at least getting a chance to see on tv what's going on only a few meters away from them in the marquee where all the vips and family members are. david. >> hara, clearly that is something that is impressing them, pleasing them. what i'd like you to do if you

can for our viewers' sake is move the camera back to the area where you see the tented marquis and i can try to describe the burial site, which is the black covered area up to the left of it. can you do that? >> reporter: yes, we'll try and show you the area where the proceedings are taking place. i'll try to move closer even. follow me that way. you can see the hills. further to the left, that black structure with the white little tent, we're told that's where the burial site is going to be. that's obviously going to be closed off to people. in terms of the history, the people we see here, the older people say look at how beautiful this place is, our land is.

this is where a great man grew up running around in these fields with no shoes on, and look what he managed to achieve. a lot of pride here as well. they want the world to see how beautiful and serene and how quiet, it is. yet, they are poor, and they're a great people and want their traditions held. that's why there was so much emphasis. they knew it was a western military funeral as well. >> the blending of the old with the new understandably. hara, i want to ask you about the farming that goes on there. you talked about many people being out of work. you talked about how some of them raise cattle there, but it looks pretty arid. i don't know. is there the ability to grow crops, or would they just be for sustainable farming or whether for selling? is it simply grass and cattle grazing, sheep as well? >> reporter: well, they do a

whole lot of things. i'm not sure i heard your question, because there are a lot of people looking at the screen. in terms of how they survive, it's raising cattle and goats and growing crops like maize which is a staple food in this part of the world. what they grow, they sell whatever they can. that's why it's important whenever it rains here. a lot of people were looking at the skies today. they kept saying, i wonder if it will rain. not because they want crops to fwroe but it's a good omen in this part of the world. if it rains, it mean the ancestors are happy and they accepted nelson mandela's spirits. they live on the land and soil. they believe in the elements. they believe in anything that makes life grow like the rain, plants and growing. a very simple people as well, but a very proud people. for that said, the younger generation are frustrated. they see the poverty and lack of development. they want the government officials to do more. they want more schools and

running water and electricity and they want to leave and go into the towns, and that's what we're seeing, people leaving and going to towns. a lot of work for the present government trying to apiece the young in the rural areas. david. >> talk about the weather, hara. if it rains, they think the gods are happy. conversely, we see the shadows behind you. if it doesn't run and it's a nice, sunny day are they cross the gods, or is it one of those things where you say they're unbelievably happy today, but it's fine anyway? >> reporter: exactly. the glass is half-full. there's no way you can really feel bad about this day. whether it rains or not, they can come out and enjoy the proceedings on the screen and they don't get wet. if it rains, it means the other thing as well. either way they're happy. the main thing is they're happy their son has come back home and will be laid to rest in the

eastern cape the place he grew up and spoke of fondly all throughout his life. they're glad to see it coming true. >> that is a very positive attitude, hara. i seem to be asking jonah plenty of questions to which he tint know the answer, so i will try one on you just to see if you do know this one. i had read that the burial site, the family graveyard was in the future to be open to the public, even those people who wanted to pay their last respects. it would remain private. is that what you have heard where you are? >> reporter: well, i haven't read that and people here haven't heard that if that's the case. if that's the case, they will be very unhappy. they've managed to accept the fact they aren't allowed to go to the funeral because like a young woman we spoke to, you can't expect everyone to be here. once the vips and heads of state leave, they want a chance to go to the burial site and pay their respects, as africans do,

because they feel so close to nelson mandela because they're from the area he came from. if that's the case, not allowed to go to the burial site, a lot of people here will be very, very angry. not just people here, but south africans as well. some people that weren't able to go to pretoria and see him lying in state, may want to see where the brave man is buried. that's something we'll discuss in the next few days and weeks. right now it's the people behind me here, the expressions when they see the funeral procession go past. these are the final moments of a man, nelson mandela. a man that they know and love. they see the coffin file past as well. this is it, the final moment for him to be laid to rest in peace. a lot of people are very happy about that. >> indeed, for many of them. thank you. we'll leave that site there and leave many of those people living there in conditions of poverty, this may well have been

the first opportunity for any of them, even though they heard the news, to see pictures of the coffin, of the ceremonial side of these ten days of mourning. many of them probably not having any means to watch a tv. i have to remind anybody just joining us that we are watching the final public moments of the funeral of nelson mandela. he was a man that died on december 5th at the age of 95, brought home at last as many people have pointed out, finally reaching the end of his long walk to freedom. he was brought home to his ancestoral home of qunu where within the next few minutes he

will be buried. ornl only a small number of people out of the four and a half thousands that filled the tented marquee for the funeral service have been invited to this more private ceremony several hundred meters up the hill to an area that has been screened off to keep it away from prying lenses and simply interested parties.

>> whether the coffin is removed from the gun carriage, there will be some ceremonial duties to be performed. the removal of the flag, the removal of medals, decorations, and other insignia given to nelson mandela and placed on his coffin for the final journey. after the task of removing them and handing them over to senior family members, before the final interment. then quite possibly we will see

a fly past by members of the south african air force, which our correspondents were saying they had been seeing practice a number of times during the course of the last few days.

>> audiences are intelligent and they know that their

>> there will be a number of du duties to be performed. the national anthem will be played and a 21-gun salute. there will be a fly past and the playing of ravali, and then at last the burial.

[ drum beats ]

>> personal effects, decorations, medals to be handed over now. they have been removed from the top of the casket to family members. the south african flag now being folded.

these pallbearers we understand very soon will salute in honor to the late president, and then they will withdraw. >> to be replaced by pallbearers representing the three armed servic services, army, navy, air force in south africa. they wait. >> let us pray. >> they wait for final part of the ceremony.

>> the lord will find the kind of man he once wants and make him ruler of his people. living and loving savior and comfo comforter, we worship you as the light of the world. in our grief we cling to the steadfast truth, that you love us with an undying love. now that was a man after god's own heart. we know that the grim reaper death does not speak the last

word. god speaks the last word, and his word is always a good word. this morning we are compared to give god honor and to thank you him for the life of madiba. we believe that beyond the absence there is presence. beyond the pain there is healing. beyond the brokenness there is wholeness. beyond the turmoil there is peace. beyond the hurting there is heaven. beyond the fighting, there is peace. and beyond the silence god speaks. we will remember nelson rolihlahla mandela.

to the family and friends of our late commander in chief, may god soothe your grief, may god sanctify your memories, may the grace of the lord be sufficient now and whenever the longing for tata becomes unbearable. rest in peace. yours was truly a long walk to freedom, and now you have achieved the ultimate freedom in the bosom of your maker, god almighty, amen.

>> as we see the three helicopters carrying the south african national flag underneath as part of the fly-past, we can

hear the distant tune of last post. i have to say it is quite possible that the broadcaster has pulled away to give us full coverage of this. we did expect that at some point. we didn't know when that would be. i believe i can faintly hear "the last post" be played. ♪

>> so we heard "the last post," and we heard "ravali," the wake-up call for the members of the military. it's suggested it's played here because it's not only the end of one life, it's the start of another life. a rebirth like the start of a new day. something about the fact we had to listen to those haunting

notes from a distance across a vast, african plain on a canvas that is being played out worldwide and one upon which nelson mandela's name has been written large and long. i don't know whether i can ask my director to go through to not a moving picture but in one sense but in another sense actually a moving picture, which signifies the end of the transmission we're getting from south african broadcasting corporation. end of world feed. that means the feed that was going out globally. we thank you very much. we must say we thank them, too, very much for the coverage that they have given us over the best part of the last five hours.

what we will not see now will be the interment of nelson mandela and the final private moments that his family and other dignitaries and friends can spend with thoughts of the former president of south africa. we're going to wrap up our coverage pretty soon. we're going to talk to isha, a south african political analysts and so much more than that in many sense because we're talking culture, tradition, the future and the past. what have you made of the last ten days? >> well, i think it's been a fitting send-off. i think particularly today's ceremony was very well-organized and very well-planned. it was a pity in some sense there was not more participation from the south african public, particularly the neighbors and those living close to the area of qunu. one hopes that they will be allowed to visit the burial

site. it is most definitely the end of an era for south africa. i think there's very little left to say, david, other than, you know -- and president zuma said this the other day at the memorial service. >> we're seeing pictures here of desmond tutu. so glad i'm sure you are than earlier he was seen there leaving the marquee going to the private funeral. he said nobody has asked me, and i'm not going to gate crash this. many took this to be an enormous snub. so good to see him there. >> very good to see him there. i'm sure madiba would have been very pleased to see him there and have him nearby. i'm sure he felt that this would have been something he did not want to miss. he said he would not have missed it for the world had he been

invited. so very, very good to see him there. >> many of the mourners -- a number of the mourners i should say seen wearing traditional animal skins. if we saw a leopard skin draped around the shoulder it was what? >> leopard skin was a chief and a lion skin for a king. and then other animals skins also being worn as part of traditional garb. >> what will happen next? >> well, mr. mandela's coffin will be interned together with the olive branch that had accompanied his body from pretoria back to the eastern cape signifying the containment of his spirit. there are rites that will be performed, possibly the burning of some herbs, possibly some traditional prayers being said.

then the body being -- the interment of the body and the last respects paid very privately by the family. as we know, probably the beginning of the period of very deep mourning now. traditionally a period of a year, as we mentioned earlier, and the end of this ten-day period of very public memorials now culminating in a very private, very intimate burial. >> isha, i understand that we here at al jazeera will be continuing our coverage of this for about another ten minutes. we will then resume normal news coverage taking in world events. i will say good-bye and hand over to elizabeth. at that point. before we go we'll do a wrap-up with some of the correspondents and we will also hear some of the remarks made at the funeral,

in contrast of what kind of reception jacob zuma got at the memori memorial. he was listened to in silence. >> it was the end of 95 glorious years of a freedom fighter, a dedicated and humble servant of the people of south africa. fountain of wisdom. a pillar of strength. and a beacon of hope. to all those fighting for a just and equitable world order. >> we also heard from nelson mandela's close friend, a man with whom he spent a quarter century in jail. he had tears in his eyes and said there would be a void in his life. >> you have your abundant

reserves, love, simplicity, honesty, service, humility, care, courage, foresight, patience, tolerance, equality, justi justice, continually served as a source of enormous strength to millions of people in south africa and the world. >> well, this was the heartfelt message for her grandfather. >> we shall miss you. we will miss when you were not pleased with our behavior. we shall miss your voice as you told your stories of your childhood. we shall miss your laughter. >> final thoughts with the south african political analysts. you spent the last ten days or

week or so here lending your wisdom on this. do you think south africa has done itself proud? >> yes. there is nothing left to say, david, except go well and rest well, rest in peace. there is no one like you. there is no one like you. your loss is an immense one, but we are so grateful to have had you here. >> who can follow? >> every south african who believes in the vision of tata madiba who says as he did, i will lift my eyes to the sun, and i will point my feet forward and i will continue this walk towards the fulfillment of madiba's ideals. >> he was undoubtedly an extraordinary man, but do you think he would have been an extraordinary man in other time in different circumstances, or was what some people refer to these days as a perfect storm?

mandela came along and there was discrimination and a struggle and there was the period of time in the late 1950s and early 1960s it all came together. >> almost the crews bell of fire, yes. if one listens to stories about mr. mandela's early life, his leadership qualities were recognized by people by tamba and et cetera. i think even before that struggle really took flight, before his incarceration, he would still have been an extraordinary man. >> yes. we go through the list of those no longer with us. what we refer to as the a list. walter sulo and joe slovo and walter katraba who was there. if it weren't for mandela, would one of them been able to step up to the plate, or was he such an extraordinary man it would not have happened.

>> i think we were blessed in south africa with talented human beings. i'd like to think one would step up to the plate, and i'd like to think there's a future mandela in the wings waiting to take flight. >> well, thank you very much. indeed we'll go back to one of the live pictures we have of the burial site, the final moments of the private service taking place there. the canopy preventing the prying lenses of getting a close-up view. according to some people who live there, by preventing them from what they consider to be their right of saying one of the the world's famous sons finally laid to rest as local tradition calls it. finally planted. we don't know they have managed to hit what we were told was

something of a deadline when the sun was at its most. the interment should take place when he comes that today. we can say for sure is that ten days of mourning have ended. for a man described by many people as one of the most extraordinary of his age. the life and times now of nelson mandela. >> our nation has lost its greatest son. ♪ ♪ nelson mandela ♪ madiba father of our nation ♪ >> nelson mandela was a fighter for justice and a human inspiration. >> nelson mandela was not just a

hero of our time but a hero of all times. >> i am not a saint unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. >> he's the moses of our time. >> now we're free! we're free, wee free! we're free! ♪ nelson mandela ♪ tata madiba

♪ oh yeah mandela ♪ madiba >> madiba, the man. ♪ >> it is the end of 95 glorious years of the freedom fighter, a

dedicated and humble servant. >> from our headquarters in new

check check >> nelson mandela's final journey. >> farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader. >> after 10 days of mourning, madeba is with his ancestors, laid to rest in his ancestral home of qunu. >> mass casualties, in the colorado shootings. >> losing hope - violence in the central african repu