Nelson Mandela opera comes to Johannesburg (AP)

JOHANNESBURG – The refined strains of Western opera and traditional Xhosa song and a sexy dose of jazz drive a new opera that opens Saturday in Johannesburg about South Africa's former president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

Writer and director Michael Williams said in an interview before a dress rehearsal on Friday that the range of musical styles reflects South Africa's mix of cultures.

The sweeping production shows Mandela cheating on his wife, making political missteps and struggling with the burden of holding others' lives in his hands.

Aubrey Lodewyk, who plays an aging Mandela in the opera, says ordinary people can draw an important lesson from Mandela's life.

Lodewyk says: Mandela "was a human being, he had his faults. But yet he came out as great a man as he is."

Yahoo! News

Mandela hails Sisulu as 'mother' of South Africa's people (AFP)

SOWETO, South Africa (AFP) – Nelson Mandela praised anti-apartheid heroine Albertina Sisulu as "the mother of all our people", as political leaders and thousands of ordinary South Africans mourned her death.

President Jacob Zuma, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Zambian independence leader Kenneth Kaunda and Mandela's wife Graca Machel were among the 3,000 people at Sisulu's funeral in an historic Soweto football stadium.

Notably absent was Mandela himself, who at 92 is increasingly frail and rarely appears in public. He delivered his condolences in a message read by Machel, calling Sisulu "one of the greatest South Africans".

Albertina Sisulu died on June 2 at her Johannesburg home at the age of 92. Her husband Walter was Mandela's political mentor, and their decades of marriage endured endless harassment by apartheid authorities to stand as one of South Africa's great love stories.

After the funeral service, she was buried in a nearby cemetery in a plot next to her husband, who died in her arms in 2003. The four-hour funeral and the burial that followed were broadcast live on television.

Albertina Sisulu was one of Mandela's last surviving contemporaries, a fact he acknowledged with obvious grief in his statement.

"The years have taken the toll as one by one friends and comrades passed on. Every time it seems as part of oneself is being cut off," he said. "None of those cuts could have been more painful than the loss of this dear friend, you, my beloved sister."

"You provided leadership and exercised power with quiet dignity. Through your selflessness and dedication, through your moral authority and sincere humanity, during and after the struggle, you rightly earned to be the mother of all our people," Mandela said.

His statement was greeted with rapturous applause, singing and dancing in the crowd, which lasted for several minutes before the service returned to the more solemn proceedings marked by hymns and prayer.

Zuma took the podium, singing the anti-apartheid hymn "Thina Sizwe", before hailing her as a model of integrity in the face of persecution.

"One of the most steadfast, dignified and disciplined pillars of our struggle has fallen, an era has ended, and the nation is devastated," Zuma said.

"Despite the persecution, Mama Sisulu remained an epitome of grace, dignity and discipline. She did not let bitterness engulf her heart. She remained focused on the mission of achieving freedom and justice," Zuma said.

Government provided 500 buses and seven trains to ferry people to Orlando Stadium, a landmark that was often a focal point in the apartheid struggle but was recently modernised for the football World Cup.

During her life, Sisulu was hounded by the apartheid authorities, repeatedly jailed, and "banned" -- a penalty that limited her movements and her visitors.

But she lived to experience the end of white-minority rule, serving one term in the new non-racial parliament herself and seeing her children rise to top positions in government.

Her daughter Lindiwe is defence minister, her son Max is the speaker of the National Assembly, and another daughter Beryl is ambassador to Norway.

Yahoo! News

Mandela in unexpected visit to home village (AFP)

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa's ailing former president Nelson Mandela has flown to his birthplace on his first trip outside his Johannesburg home since leaving hospital after a health scare in January.

"He's doing very well," said grandson Mandla Mandela from the family's home in Qunu village in the rural Eastern Cape where the anti-apartheid icon arrived on Sunday.

"I mean if he's able to fly from Joburg and come home, that can tell you that he is doing very well health-wise."

The frail 92-year-old, who has been receiving round-the-clock medical care, was "staying at home and seeing his family".

"It's always been great for us to have my grandfather home," Mandela told AFP.

"Qunu and this area of his early childhood is very close and dear to his heart. He's always feeling rejuvenated every time he comes home and we are very grateful and honoured that he's taken time to come back home and be with us."

The icon whose hospitalisation for an acute respiratory infection in January put the country on edge was in good spirits, he said.

"He's always in exceptional sense of humour and yesterday he continued telling us stories of his childhood in the area of Qunu and that of his birthplace in Mvezo," said Mandela.

Media reports said the leader had told his family last week that he wanted to go home, with his grandson not surprised by his decision to return to his family home where "his roots are allocated".

"This is his homestead, this is where he grew up and this is where he built his first home when coming out of prison so its not surprising that the man would want to go back to his house," he said.

Before his arrival, five aircraft including a military medical helicopter were seen at the rural Mthatha airport.

Mandela later arrived in a Boeing accompanied by his wife Graca Machel, the reports said. The elder statesman was then transferred by a specially designed wheelchair-lift truck to a waiting ambulance, according to The Times newspaper.

Those who saw Mandela said he appeared to be happy and chatted to youngsters, asking about their school progress, The Times reported.

A medical aircraft hovered above a 12-vehicle convoy as he was transported to his residence where he was welcomed home by his grandson and senior members from his clan.

"It's the first time he's come home since he's coming out of hospital," said Mandela, saying he did not know how long his grandfather would stay.

"It's up to him. It's his home so however long he wants to stay. We are just enjoying having him stay at home."

President Jacob Zuma's office on Monday said Mandela was spending time resting at in Qunu on "a normal scheduled visit".

"We are pleased that he is now well enough to travel," Zuma said, urging that Mandela's privacy was respected.

The iconic leader received two days of treatment in January which had the country on tenterhooks following a media blackout on his condition, which was initially said to be a "routine check-up".

Last week, he voted from home for local government elections for the first time in a special arrangement for the infirm.

Mandela was elected the country's first black president in South Africa's first all-race vote in 1994 and served one term before stepping down in 1999.

In the run-up to his 93rd birthday on July 18, his office established after he retired from public life in 2004 has called for the world to observe "Mandela Mondays" by doing volunteer work on Mondays.

In 2009, the United Nations declared July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day, on which the former president has urged people to do good deeds.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was last seen in public at the closing ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg in July 2010.

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

South Africa's infirm Mandela to vote at home (AFP)

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa's aged ex-president Nelson Mandela will vote at home Monday for this week's local elections, the voting authority announced, in a special arrangement for the infirm.

The iconic 92-year-old anti-apartheid hero, South Africa's first black president, is under home-based care after being hospitalised for two days in January for an acute respiratory infection.

"He is one of the people who will casting special votes today," Independent Election Commission spokeswoman Kate Bapela said.

The country votes on Wednesday in local elections in which service delivery has become a hot issue, with frustration towards the ruling African National Congress building over inadequate power, water and housing.

The ANC, which has dominated South African politics since the end of apartheid in 1994, is nonetheless expected to sweep the elections.

Mandela has not been seen in public since he was discharged from hospital but information released in February said he was in stable condition.

Monday's special vote is reserved for the "physically infirm or disabled" and people performing critical services like the police, the commission said.

Mandela was elected the country's first black president in South Africa's first all-race vote in 1994 and served one term before stepping down in 1999.

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.