I cannot purport that Mandela's widow, Graca Machel and his ex-wife, Winnie Mandela are cut from the same cloth. Far from it, the two women are poles apart when it comes to their public persona and private personalities, but then different strokes to different folks. Sisters in arms, indeed. I watched them as they held hands and embraced. And, they represent different strands of contemporary African women. Needless to say, I am not comparing. But what appeared to be a plot spiralling out of control for the cameras turned out to be a beautiful gesture and the international media were pulling the strings. And, with everything smelling of roses, South African President Jacob Zuma, who was booed in Johannesburg earlier in the week was an accomplice below the stairs so to speak sitting pretty between the two formidable women at the state funeral of Madiba. There were other eloquent accomplices in this Shakespearean drama too. "I was filled with an overwhelming mixture of sadness, emotion and pride. He tightly held my hand until the end of my brief visit. It was profoundly heartbreaking. It brought me to the verge of tears," lamented a lachrymose Ahmed Kathrada, who was jailed with Mandela on the Robben Island and is a family friend, remembering the last time he met Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in person. But, peppery old buffers and gimlet-eyes ladies apart, why did Madiba insist on Qunu, in the backwaters of East Cape Province, as his final resting place. "He really believed this is where he belonged," explained the late South African leader's daughter, Maki Mandela. Mercifully, there were no domestic dramas. Nandi Mandela, one of Mandela's 18 grandchildren, told a tantalised audience that her grandfather had a great sense of humour and that despite walking to school barefoot and herding cattle, he managed to become a global statesman. When his body arrived on Saturday in Qunu, 700km south of Johannesburg, it was greeted by ululating ethnic Xhosa women overjoyed that Madiba, the clan name by which the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was affectionately known, had "come home". The danced with a torrent of impassioned joy rather than intense grief and the casket couldn't cow them for the African has an instinctive faith in the afterlife. Madiba had joined the ancestors, but his spirit hovered over Qunu. The star of show was undoubtedly Malawian President Joyce Banda. She received a standing ovation at Nelson Mandela's State Funeral in his home village of Qunu Banda, who is also the current Chairperson of Southern African Development Council (SADC). She called for the SADC region to continue striving towards Mandela's legacy of peace, security and integration. "After three years of isolation, humiliation and name calling, I found myself in a situation where I had to work with those who had desired to prevent me from becoming President of my country. I had to forgive them without effort," Banda. "We in the SADC Region, whilst mourning his death, also see this as an opportunity to celebrate the life of a great Statesman, an icon from our region. The life of Tata Mandela will continue to inspire those of us left behind, promote peace and security, deepen regional integration and work to support one another as it was during the fight against apartheid. We will strive to emulate Tata Mandela's stature and spirit so that his legacy can live on. The ideals of political, social and economic emancipation that he stood for will inspire us forever as a region," the Malawian president trumpeted. Banda was the proverbial African storyteller and her tale builds to a head. "The SADC region will remember him for his wisdom and statesmanship; his humility and sense of humour; and his servant leadership style. We in the SADC Region will remember Tata as a great reformer who championed the cause of humanity, deepening democracy and dedicated his life to selfless service, a man who worked tirelessly to promote national, regional and world peace," Banda concluded. As pallbearers marched toward the burial site after a funeral ceremony, helicopters whizzed past dangling the national South African rainbow flag. Cannons fired a 21-gun salute and as mourners expressed their grief in perfect symbiosis, everyone new that things will never be the same in Qunu. Military helicopters flew over as pallbearers placed Mandela's casket over the grave after a funeral ceremony on Sunday, attended by African leaders, luminaries and magnates from Europe and the United States. "Today marks the end of an extraordinary journey that began 95 years ago," proudly declared South African President Jacob Zuma, referring to Mandela's age. "It is the end of 95 glorious years of a freedom fighter," Zuma extrapolated, referring to Mandela as a beacon of hope to all those fighting for a just and equitable world order." Ethiopian Prime Minister and African Union chairman Haile Mariam Desalegn said on Sunday that Africa is indebted to Mandela. He was symbolic of a certain kind of African leader, a freedom fighter who was uniquely reconciliatory to the enemy of the people he championed. Indeed, he ended his life as the very liberator of the enemy. Mandela who died on 5 December after battling a chronic lung infection for months on end was mourned by the indigenous black African population, his people, as he was by the progeny of the white settler colonialists, also in an ironic twist of fate his people. The setting and histrionics of this superb South African stagecraft was elating. It was not meant to be a tear-jerking melodrama. South African television showed Mandela's casket at the family gravesite, but stopped broadcasting the solemn event before the casket was lowered at the request of the Mandela family. The state funeral in the rolling hills of the East Cape province began promptly at 7:55am and was attended by 4,500 guests. But speakers spoke far longer than they were supposed to. Most speakers ignored the instructions of Baleka Mbete, the chairperson of the governing African National Congress (ANC) who officiated over Madiba's state funeral in Qunu to be concise. Mbete let them be. She was elated that strangers turn up at the funeral of South Africa's most celebrated statesman. Prominent mourners included Britain's Prince Charles and African American civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson. African American TV talk show host and tycoon Oprah Winfrey turned up in Qunu, a desolate place where it is hard for the ambitious youth with their aspirations and hopes for a better future not to die of desperation. Mourners in Qunu sang the national anthem "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" or "God Bless Africa". One cannot choose his or her birthplace, but one certainly of the political stature and moral calibre of Mandela has the choice to make a decision of his or her final resting place on earth. Foreign dignitaries and ANC leaders kept the emotional pitch high. South Africa's national anthem with lyrics from several languages, incorporated at Mandela's insistence, before Bishop Don Babula, a Mandela family chaplain, led them in prayer. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn and current African Union chairperson delivered a most moving tribute on behalf of the continent. And, Zambia's founding father, the octogenarian Kenneth Kaunda who had the last word pranced towards the podium like a black panther.
