By Jonathan Ancer and Caiphus Kgosana
Nelson Mandela's cavalcade drove down Beyers Naudé Drive on Wednesday as it headed to a Northcliff retirement village where the former president to comforted Ilse Naudé.
The street, one of the main roads in Johannesburg, had previously been named DF Malan Drive, after a former apartheid leader. It was renamed in honour of Naudé and the contribution he made to the country.
Mandela said that when he heard of the death of his friend and comrade, which happened on Tuesday morning, he had packed his bags and left Mozambique.
"I knew that I must come back to see the family and give them whatever support we can," Mandela said on Wednesday after visiting 91-year-old Ilse Naudé.
The former president said the anti-apartheid cleric had achieved much in his life and that his work had been a source of inspiration for the country.
"Although the moment is not conducive to happiness, for all of us this is how it's going to end. We must remember that while Oom Bey may not be alive, his influence will remain for ever. He inspired us - that's the value of Oom Bey."
Mandela then turned to an exhausted-looking Ilse Naudé and wished her "baie sterkte".
Liesel Naudé, the couple's daughter, said Mandela's visit had been a source of great comfort to her mother. The Naudés had been married for 64 years and Ilse Naudé had stood by her husband when he was ostracised by the white establishment.
"Madiba was my father's special friend, and my mom really appreciated his dropping by. He is such a warm person."
Liesel added that her mother was "holding up".
"She's okay, she's just very tired. The knowledge now that her beloved husband is actually gone is slowly sinking in. She has been overwhelmed by the support that has flooded in. So many people from all over the country and the world have sent wishes. It has been amazing.
"My mother is strong and has incredible faith, and that's what keeps her going."
Meanwhile President Thabo Mbeki has decided that a special official funeral will be held in honour of Naudé.
"The decision of the president was given effect earlier on Wednesday when Acting President Jacob Zuma signed a presidential minute. The decision to hold a special official funeral for Naudé was taken, as prescribed by a cabinet decision, after the acting president and the secretary of the cabinet had consulted with the cabinet and the Naudé family," the president's office said.
The honour of a special official funeral is reserved only for people with extraordinary credentials. Others to have received the honour include Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and Wilton Mkwayi.
Instructions have been given for the national flag to be flown at half-mast throughout the country from next Friday until Naudé's cremation the next Monday. A book of condolences will be made available from Thursday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and Tuynhuys in Cape Town.
At Khotso House in Marshall Street, Johannesburg, a framed photo of Naudé, with bouquets on either side of it, stands out as the main attraction inside the chapel.
Two lit candles have been placed on either side of a condolences book, just below the picture, in which clerics and other visitors to the chapel have written their messages of condolence. It is here, at the headquarters of the South African Council of Churches, that Naudé spent three years as the organisation's general secretary, from 1984 to 1987.
Bishop Ndanganeni Phaswana, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa, said he had come to know Naudé in 1975 when he (Phaswana) was still a theology student.
"He was a man of all people, of all ages," said Phaswana. "To the young he was young at heart; to the older ones he was their colleague; and to the children he was a grandfather."