Pretoria - Former President Nelson Mandela, who is lying in state at the Union Buildings, was described as a man who pursued the good of all people.
“He always pursued the good of all. He is a leader whose moral courage defined our era of liberation so much so that history books are already defining the period of our freedom as the ‘age of Mandela’,” Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said on Thursday.
She said Mandela believed in the value of education.
“President Mandela believed very firmly in the transformative value of education. We will be honouring his memory if we ensure all children of all backgrounds enjoy quality education. We will honour him if we love our children, protect them from sexual predators and ensure they grow in communities that love and protect them,” said Pandor.
South Africans have come out in their tens of thousands to queue at the park and ride facilities in Pretoria in the hope of getting a chance to view Mandela’s body.
Young and old, black and white, are standing in queues which stretch for kilometres, for buses to ferry them to the Union Buildings where Madiba is lying in state for the third and last day.
Most have been at the venue since the early hours of the morning, some sharing their stories about the Father of the Nation, some holding placards of the struggle icon, while others blow their vuvuzelas and waive the National Flag.
Government has advised members of the public that all three park-and-ride facilities in Tshwane, used to bus mourners to the Union Buildings, were at full capacity.
Government said it could not guarantee that every person, who was presently in the queues at the various centres, would be given access to the Union Buildings.
The former statesman will be buried at Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Sunday. - SAnews.gov.za
