South Africans Bury Anti-Apartheid Hero
By RAVI NESSMAN
Associated Press Writer
May 17, 2003, 4:12 PM EDT
SOWETO, South Africa -- Tens of thousands of dancing and singing South
Africans jammed a soccer stadium Saturday for the state funeral of
Walter Sisulu, the "heroically humble" giant of the fight against
apartheid.
"The African colossus that lies in front of us might have fallen, but he
has not died," said President Thabo Mbeki, who said Sisulu's memory will
live forever.
Since his death May 5 at the age of 90, Sisulu, who spent decades in
apartheid prisons, has been hailed as a man of great integrity, the
moral center of the African National Congress' liberation struggle.
He was mourned in dozens of services across the country. World leaders
sent their condolences, flags across South Africa were lowered to half
staff and the government voted to honor him with a state funeral.
"I want to declare loud and clear that after a life so exemplary, so
inspiring ... we are filled with deep thankfulness," Archbishop Desmond
Tutu said in his eulogy. "We have come to celebrate a wonderful life
poured out so unselfishly on behalf of others."
Tutu, who called Sisulu "heroically humble," said he found it ironic
that a man considered public enemy No. 2 in the apartheid era -- after
Nelson Mandela -- was now being mourned by tens of thousands.
Hours before the hearse arrived at Orlando Stadium in the black township
of Soweto, thousands danced in the stands and sang old liberation songs
about former President Mandela, the late struggle leader Oliver Tambo
and Sisulu.
"I think where ever he is he would be happy to see us celebrating," said
Emmanuel Ramafalo, 24.
Meanwhile, the white hearse carrying Sisulu's coffin, draped in a South
African flag, traveled slowly from his Soweto home to the stadium
several miles away. Mourners lined the route, raising their fists in the
air and singing the traditional mourning song of the guerrilla wing of
the African National Congress.
When the hearse entered the stadium, the mourners fell silent and stood
as a military band played mournful music and an honor guard presented
arms.
After the funeral, four black and four white servicemen placed Sisulu's
coffin on an olive drab gun carriage for the journey through cheering
crowds to a Soweto cemetery.
About 10 generals stood at attention as the coffin was unloaded.
One of Sisulu's grandchildren read a statement from his wife, Albertina,
who sat nearby.
"Walter, what do I do now without you? You for whom I wake up every
morning, you for whom I lived," she said.
Sisulu has been hailed as the quiet hero of the anti-apartheid struggle,
the strategist and the confidant of such leaders as Tambo and Mandela.
He was jailed repeatedly in the 1950s and 1960s before he was sentenced
to life in 1964 alongside Mandela and other ANC leaders for plotting
anti-government sabotage.
Mandela praised his mentor as "one of the greatest among a generation of
great freedom fighters" -- a generation he said was now reaching the end
of a long and heroic struggle.
"From the moment when we first met, he has been my friend, my brother,
my keeper, my comrade," Mandela said.
Mandela called Sisulu someone who brought people together, someone who
never asked of others something he was unprepared to do himself, someone
who should be an example to leaders of today.
Sisulu spent more than 25 years in jail before his release in 1989.
Though he did not take a government position when the ANC came to power
in the country's first all-race elections in 1994, he set a moral
example for the nation, ANC leaders said.
He was a patriot "who could never be bought or corrupted or forced by
fear or fashion or love of material things to auction his soul," said
Mbeki.
In the crowd at the stadium, old struggle fighters mixed with teenagers
who only learned about Sisulu after his death. Some traveled more than a
day to pay respects to the man who helped bring about their liberation.
"He was prepared to die for our lives," said Veronica Momane, 45, who
traveled a day and half by train from Port Elizabeth to attend the
funeral.
Mourners at the stadium also included African presidents Bakili Muluzi
of Malawi, Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
Posters in the stadium emblazoned with Sisulu's picture called him the
"hero of heroes" and "architect of our nation."
Sisulu's grandson, Mlungisi Sisulu, spoke for the family at the funeral
Saturday.
"Farewell," he said, "you have fought the good fight."
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
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