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Scores of World Leaders to Attend Mandela Memorial Scores of World Leaders to Attend Mandela Memorial
(about 7 hours later)
JOHANNESBURG — The South African authorities scrambled on Monday to deal with the logistical, security and protocol complexities of hosting scores of visiting dignitaries – and tens of thousands of their own people – at a national memorial for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday in the World Cup soccer stadium where he made his last public appearance in 2010. JOHANNESBURG — From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, from Scandinavia to the Caribbean, heads of state from around the world are descending on South Africa to take part in an enormous farewell to Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, presenting the government with a security test, logistical challenge and protocol quiz all rolled into one.
South African authorities scrambled on Monday to receive scores of visiting dignitaries — and tens of thousands of their own people — for the national memorial, which will take place in the World Cup soccer stadium where Mr. Mandela made his last public appearance, in 2010.
“The world literally is coming to South Africa,” said Clayson Monyela, the head of public diplomacy in the South African government. “I don’t think it has ever happened before.”“The world literally is coming to South Africa,” said Clayson Monyela, the head of public diplomacy in the South African government. “I don’t think it has ever happened before.”
As members of Parliament gathered in Cape Town to honor the former leader, adding to the tributes and praise since Mr. Mandela’s death on Thursday, officials said the visitors from overseas would include President Obama along with the former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. The government said the ceremony in the stadium would rank “among the biggest gatherings of world leaders in history.” It was expected to exceed the number of world leaders that attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, which had heads of state or government from more than 70 countries, described then as an unprecedented collection of power for a papal funeral.
The White House said Saturday that President Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama, would attend the memorial service. Mr. Bush and his wife, Laura, along with Mr. Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, will travel to South Africa on Air Force One as President Obama’s guests. “Pope John Paul’s funeral brought together 70 heads of state & 14 leaders of other regions,” Mr. Monyela said on Twitter on Monday. “We’re already over 91 & counting.”
Mr. Carter will attend as a member of The Elders – a group of veteran global figures sponsored by Mr. Mandela, the group said on Sunday. Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, will not attend. As workers busied themselves constructing a stage at the stadium and putting up panels of bulletproof glass to protect the visiting dignitaries, President Obama boarded Air Force One on Monday with his wife, Michelle, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
Tuesday’s memorial service in the FNB Stadium will precede three days during which Mr. Mandela’s body will lie in state in the Union Buildings in Pretoria — once the seat of white power — before his burial on Sunday in his childhood village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape. Mr. Obama will be among the foreign politicians speaking at the event. But he could find a somewhat chilly reception backstage, considering that President Raúl Castro of Cuba and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, who has sharply rebuked the Obama administration over revelations that the National Security Agency had spied on her, are among the other speakers.
Britain’s royal family said on Monday that Prince Charles would represent Queen Elizabeth II in Qunu, and Prime Minister David Cameron said he would attend Tuesday’s memorial service at the soccer stadium. There was no immediate confirmation of news reports that the mourners would include President Hassan Rouhani of Iran and President Robert G. Mugabe of Zimbabwe. South African authorities said President François Hollande of France would also attend. According to the official program released Monday, the memorial will begin with a choir singing South Africa’s national anthem. Four of Mr. Mandela’s grandchildren will give tributes, and South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, will deliver the keynote address.
Delegations from Benin, Canada, Chad, China, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya and Senegal were expected to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria, the capital, on Monday. President Mamnoon Hussain of Pakistan had departed for South Africa, and a small delegation from New Zealand led by Prime Minister John Key was also on its way, according to the South African Government News Agency. As members of Parliament gathered in Cape Town and added to the tributes since Mr. Mandela’s death on Thursday, the South African government said that delegations from Benin, Canada, Chad, China, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya and Senegal were expected to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base near Pretoria on Monday. Others were arriving at O.R. Tambo International Airport outside Johannesburg, including the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and his predecessor, Kofi Annan.
Cuban leader Raúl Castro planned to attend, the government news service said. Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, along with Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, were to travel to South Africa on Air Force One as Mr. Obama’s guests; former President Bill Clinton was to make his way to South Africa separately.
“The fact that international leaders are making their way to South Africa at such short notice reflects the special place President Mandela holds in the hearts of people around the globe,” Collins Chabane, a government minister in the presidency, said on Sunday. Another former president, Jimmy Carter, will attend as a member of The Elders – a group of veteran global figures sponsored by Mr. Mandela, the group said on Sunday. The first President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, will not attend.
The choice of the FNB stadium is both pragmatic and symbolic. It lies in Soweto, the onetime segregated township where riots, protests and bloodletting in 1976 helped hasten the unraveling of apartheid while Mr. Mandela was in prison. He was released in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black president in 1994. After Tuesday’s memorial service, Mr. Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days in the Union Buildings in Pretoria — once the seat of white power — before his burial on Sunday in his childhood village, Qunu, in the Eastern Cape.
In more practical terms, the stadium has an official capacity of more than 94,000, offering space for mourners. In his last public appearance in the final stages of the 2010 World Cup, Mr. Mandela briefly appeared at the stadium seated in a golf cart. Britain’s royal family said Monday that Prince Charles would represent Queen Elizabeth II in Qunu, while Prime Minister David Cameron said he would attend Tuesday’s memorial service.
A more recent glimpse of him for most South Africans came in a heavily choreographed and controversial video in April showing him looking frail during a private visit by President Jacob G. Zuma and some family members. South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation published a list on Monday of more than 80 countries that are sending delegations to either the memorial or the funeral “to join the people of South Africa in bidding a final farewell to the late Former President Nelson Mandela.”
South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said on Monday that around 70 heads of state and government planned to attend either the memorial on Tuesday or the state funeral on Sunday. The government said the ceremony at the FNB Stadium would rank “among the biggest gatherings of world leaders in history.” The predicted turnout was similar to the tally of notables who attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, when the presence of 70 such figures was described as an unprecedented gathering of power for a papal funeral. Both Congos, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be represented by their presidents, as will Niger and Nigeria. Royalty will include Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Queen Rania of Jordan, the wife of King Abdullah, not to mention the crown princes of Denmark, Norway and Japan.
Mr. Monyela, the department’s head of public diplomacy, said: “All organizations of the world, for example, the United Nations will be represented by the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the African Union by commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and we have princes and princesses, kings and queens coming.” Representatives of the African Union, the Arab League, the Commonwealth and the European Union will be there, as will some of Mr. Mandela’s fellow Nobel Peace laureates, like Mr. Obama, Mr. Carter and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia.
Most foreign leaders were expected to arrive in South Africa on Monday and would attend the national memorial gathering on Tuesday rather than the state funeral in Qunu, he added. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya is coming, even though the services fall during the weeklong observation of the 50th anniversary of Kenya’s independence, with commemorations already underway in the capital of Nairobi.
The authorities are expecting huge crowds of South Africans and have said they will set up large screens to relay the event at three overflow sports stadiums in the Johannesburg area, along with scores of large screens across the land. The police said “thousands” of officers would be on duty. There will be some notable absences as well. The Dalai Lama, through a spokesman, said he would not attend. While the spokesman did not give a reason, the Dalia Lama has been unable to obtain visas to South Africa in the past, which critics say stems from the government’s unwillingness to anger China, one of its most important economic partners.
Symbolically, the soccer stadium is in Soweto, the onetime segregated township where protests and the killing of student protesters in 1976 hastened the uproar against apartheid at a time when Mr. Mandela was in prison. He was released in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black president in 1994.
In more practical terms, the soccer stadium has an official capacity of nearly 94,000, offering space for mourners. The authorities are expecting huge crowds of South Africans and have said that they will set up large screens to show the event at three sports stadiums in the Johannesburg area, along with scores of large screens across the land.