Thousands queue to say goodbye to Mandela

The body of Nelson Mandela will lie in state for a third day on Friday. It will then be flown to the Eastern Cape, and buried on Sunday at his childhood home in Qunu, 700 km from Johannesburg.

Thousands of mourners continued to queue to say goodbye to Mandela in Pretoria in the building where he was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

President of Cuba Raul Castro was among the world leaders to file past Mandela’s coffin, stopping for a final farewell.

Thousands of Cuban doctors have worked in South Africa’s poor communities as part of an international outreach campaign that has lasted since the 1970s.

Mandela was hailed a hero by Cubans.

Malaysia’s long-serving former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed, paid his respects.

Venezuela vice president, Jorge Arreaza, presented Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela with a replica sword of Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar.

Arreaza gave the replica sword to the people of South Afrcia, saying it was “as a symbol of struggle,”