Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and one of the 20th century’s iconic political figures, has been laid to rest on a family estate in Qunu.

The funeral opened with a two-hour public ceremony for about 4,500 invited guests, including senior politicians and foreign dignitaries.

The Reverend Vuyani Nyobole led proceedings at the public memorial, saying “today we celebrate the incarnation that was Nelson Mandela, who gave his life for the sake of justice and freedom”.

Mandela’s casket was buried at a family plot in his rural boyhood home of Qunu, watched by his widow Graca Machel, ex-wife Winnie Madikizela–Mandela, other family members and around 450 selected guests.

The interment followed a ceremonial state funeral that ran well over its allotted two hours, as speaker after speaker paid emotional tribute to the man who led South Africa out of the apartheid era.

“The person who lies here is South Africa’s greatest son,” said ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.

A 21-gun salute and full military honour guard had escorted Mandela’s coffin to the marquee where 4,500 mourners said their final goodbyes.

His flag-draped casket was placed on cowskins, surrounded by 95 candles — one for each year of his extraordinary life.

The frail and ageing leaders of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle also attended: George Bizos, Desmond Tutu and Ahmed Kathrada, whose voice broke as he delivered a eulogy for his old friend.

“I first met him 67 years ago,” said Kathrada, who along with Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1963.

He recalled his fellow inmate as a powerful amateur boxer who could cope far better than others with the physical challenge of hard labour.

“What I saw in hospital was a man helpless and reduced to a shadow of himself,” he said, struggling not to break down.

“Farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader.”

“Now I’ve lost a brother, my life is in a void and I don’t know who to turn to.”

A towering public figure

Kathrada’s words left many in tears among the invited guests, whose ranks included foreign dignitaries and celebrities ranging from Britain’s Prince Charles to US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.

The funeral closed the final chapter in the life of a towering public figure whose courage and moral fortitude turned him into a global symbol of freedom and hope.

During 10 days of mourning, hundreds of thousands of South Africans had turned out across the country to bid farewell to the founding father of their “Rainbow Nation”.

They braved a rain-sodden memorial in Soweto and for three days queued to see his remains lying in state at Pretoria’s Union Buildings.

For 50 million compatriots, Mandela was not just a president, but a moral guide who led them away from internecine racial conflict.

“Ever since he passed away, I wanted to walk the journey with him,” said Pascal Moloi, 52, who came from Johannesburg to watch with Mandela’s fellow villagers.

While Mandela had been critically ill for months, the announcement of his death on December 5 still sent a spasm through a country struggling to carry forward his vision of a harmonious multi-racial democracy of shared prosperity.

During the funeral, President Jacob Zuma told the country to carry on Mandel’s legacy.

“One thing we can assure you of today, tata (father), as you take your final steps, is that South Africa will continue to rise.

“South Africa will continue to rise because we dare not fail you,” Zuma said.

A private goodbye

After the ceremony, Mandela’s coffin was transported to a graveyard sitting on the sprawling family estate that Mandela built in Qunu after his release from prison in 1990.

“It was in that village that I spent some of the happiest years of my boyhood and whence I trace my earliest memories,” he wrote in his autobiography.

As the coffin was lowered into the ground, six jets flew over the gravesite in a “missing man formation”, usually reserved for tributes to a fallen pilot.

After a life spent in the public spotlight, Mandela’s final rites were a fiercely private affair.

A family deprived of their husband and father during his 27 years in apartheid prisons and many more years in public service seized it as an intimate last goodbye to a man who meant much to millions.

A live television broadcast followed the coffin to the graveside but was cut after several minutes in line with the family’s wishes.

Overseen by male members of his clan in line with traditional Xhosa rites, the burial included the slaughter of an ox — a ritual marking of a life’s milestones.

Mandela was referred to throughout as Dalibhunga, the name given to him at the age of 16 after undergoing the initiation to adulthood.

After the ceremony Bizos — who was Mandela’s defence lawyer — echoed the heartbreak of a nation.

“We have known each other for 65 years,” Bizos said, “now he is gone.”

“It has been a difficult 10 days.”