Johannesburg - Former president Nelson Mandela would live on through his values, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu's said on Monday.
“The best tribute each one of us can give is to embrace the values he gave us,” he said during a prayer service at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.
“He may not be physically with us, but let us not make a mistake and think he is not with us.
“...Ours is to continue to proclaim the message of his values... Whether it is easy or difficult for us to do so,” Tutu said.
Mandela's values were those of the gospel; peace, love and reconciliation.
“Working together we can make a difference,” he said.
The service included the hymns Abide With Me and the Lord's Prayer, and concluded with the national anthem.
Crowds of people huddled at the barricades where speakers were erected to relay the service to the hundreds of people who could not fit in to the venue.
Candles were lit and masses of flowers of all colours were laid along the barricade on 12th Avenue, near Mandela's Houghton home, where he died on Thursday evening.
Sapa