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 Saturday at a 40 000 seat football stadium in Soweto.
The service followed a week of national mourning.
Officials of the governing ANC 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 June 2 at the age of 92.
