Updated Dec. 6, 2013 4:31 p.m. ET
As leaders commemorated the passing of Nelson Mandela, street celebrations of his life sprung up in cities around the world. However, some see Mandela’s legacy in less glowing terms. The Foreign Bureau tracks the top world news stories of the day.
SOWETO, South Africa—Shock turned to celebration on Friday as South Africans sang, danced and reminisced to mark the life and legacy of their former president Nelson Mandela.
The World Mourns Nelson Mandela
Soweto resident Joy Chauke laidflowers outside Mr. Mandela’s former home in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday. Associated Press
From the small brick home Mr. Mandela once kept in this sprawling township outside Johannesburg to the comfortable house in an upscale suburb where he died on Thursday night, throngs of hundreds gathered to praise him in song and comfort their countrymen. Into Friday night, radio stations played snippets of Mr. Mandela’s speeches between the national anthem and other inspirational songs. South Africa’s current president, Jacob Zuma, declared 10 days of mourning and asked government officials to take part by refraining from nonessential meetings and travel.
“When someone passes on we cannot quite rejoice, but we are happy for the legacy he has left behind,” said Nicholas Molelengoane, a 51-year-old nurse who said he was old enough to appreciate the mark Mr. Mandela had left on his country.
“I will celebrate his life for the rest of mine because he brought me such dramatic changes,” Mr. Molelangoane said as he snapped pictures of the flowers and cards piling up outside Mr. Mandela’s former home, now a museum.
Behind him, hundreds of young members of the African National Congress, the party Mr. Mandela led to power, chanted antiapartheid anthems and marched up and down the street. Revelers spilled out of the bars and tourist cafes along Vilakazi Street to join them.
“He’s an icon! He’s everything to this nation!” said Mpho Nonkwelo, a 19-year-old student who had marched across sprawling Soweto to sing outside the house alongside fellow members of the ANC’s youth league, a body Mr. Mandela helped found half a century ago.
On Friday night, young people were coming to grips with Mr. Mandela’s historical legacy.
“I came to share my last respects for the fight he fought a long time ago,” said Ovayo Makalima, who came to Vilakazi Street with her parents and two brothers from a suburb east of Johannesburg. “We wanted to show them what kind of man this was—the father of our nation,” said Ovayo’s 37-year-old mother Chuma.
Mr. Mandela, who was 95 years old when he died, spent nearly three decades in prison for opposing South Africa’s white-minority regime. When he was released in 1990, to enter negotiations with the apartheid government that would eventually lead to his election as South Africa’s first black president, he was a force without a face. The white regime had suppressed distribution of his image for many years.
Photos: A Look Back at Mandela’s Life
Mike Hutchings/Reuters/Corbis
South African Hero
See a timeline of key events in his life.
That explains how Taylor Matsime, who set up a stall outside Mr. Mandela’s home on the weekend he was released from jail, managed to sell 80 T-shirts emblazoned with his image before realizing it wasn’t Mr. Mandela’s face at all.
“When he walked out of jail we realized it wasn’t him,” Mr. Matsime recalled. Almost a quarter century later, the 50-year-old salesman had set up a stand in the same spot, this time selling copies of Mr. Mandela’s autobiography and holograph portraits of Mr. Mandela juxtaposed with South Africa’s many-colored flag.
Demand wasn’t as strong as for the 1990 T-shirts. “People then were desperate to know him. Now his face is everywhere,” Mr. Matsime said. But he said the drop in sales wasn’t denting his mood. “I’m also celebrating,” he said. “We’re remembering a great leader we had.”
Write to Patrick McGroarty at patrick.mcgroarty@wsj.com
Excerpt from: South Africans Celebrate the Life of Nelson Mandela
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