Pretoria - Nelson Mandela's widow Graca Machel wiped away tears on Saturday as she was given the ANC flag which had been draped over her husband's coffin.
Machel repeatedly dabbed her eyes with a tissue and looked down after receiving the carefully folded black, gold, and green flag during a special ANC tribute ceremony at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria.
Struggle heroes Ahmed Kathrada and Andrew Mlangeni were among the pallbearers who carried former president Nelson Mandela's coffin out, ready to be loaded onto an awaiting aircraft.
The frail-looking long-time friends of Mandela took their places alongside the coffin and helped to wheel it out of the hangar. It would be flown to the Eastern Cape, ahead of the state funeral in Qunu on Sunday, the rural area where Mandela spent much of his childhood. - Sapa