From freedom to mourning, Cape Town says goodbye to Mandela

Cape Town (AFP) - When Nelson Mandela made his first public speech after nearly three decades in apartheid jail, Sihaam and Moutie Abrahams were in the elated crowd outside Cape Town's city hall.

On Friday, more than 20 years later, they returned to say a final farewell to the hero who carried the hopes of a bitterly divided South Africa into all-race freedom.

"We're standing on the same spot that we were in 1990 when he was released to us," said Sihaam Abrahams, 41, with her husband Moutie, 44.

"So we're here with our kids now 23 years later."

The couple were part of a crowd of thousands, of all races and ages, who gathered at the historic site to celebrate Mandela's life and mourn his death on Thursday aged 95 with a multi-faith tribute.

With two giant panels of his picture hanging from the city hall, the sound of hymns, songs and prayers filled the air as did a round of chants with raised clenched fists that evoked Mandela's struggle for freedom.

In 1990, Mandela called Cape Town his "home for three decades" -- referring to his 27 years behind bars in and around the city.

Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille told the crowd -- gathered again on the parade ground opposite the balcony from where he spoke -- that Mandela had "a very special relationship" with the city.

However, it was "to our shame" that it was where he was imprisoned for decades, she said.

"Tonight we stand in solidarity as the people of Cape Town -- black, white, coloured, Indian, all the religions together," she told the crowd, pointing to Mandela as a unifier.

South Africa's post-apartheid flag waved in the crowd, and roaming sellers peddled T-shirts and pictures.

A row of flower bunches and condolence books offered mourners the chance to express what Mandela and his role in bringing about a democratic South Africa had meant.

"You may be gone physically but in our hearts you will forever be," read one tribute.

"Good Bye Tata (father). We love you and will always be thankful for setting us free," said another.

Mamello "Mum-Z" Mokoena, 28, said he came to "pay tribute to someone who literally selflessly gave of his life so that I would even have the right to be standing here".

The gathering's diverse crowd in a country that still battles divisions based on skin colour was true to Mandela's unifying ability.

"I think it's actually a very good representation of the power of the man. The diversity of who he touched," said Mokoena.

With Mandela's reach far beyond South Africa's borders, foreigners were also in the crowd.

Dutch visitor Oteline van Zwieten, 28, said she had gone to the gathering as Mandela was "an incredible source of inspiration".

Like others, the Abrahams had come full circle having waited hours in the sun for Mandela to appear at the city hall on February 11, 1990.

"Back then it was elation, it's more sombre this time," said Sihaam, adding that the couple had also watched Mandela walk free earlier that day from jail.

For their three young children -- whom they call "born frees" for not being born into apartheid -- the service on Friday also offered a window into the past.

"We're trying to explain to them what this means, what it meant back then, and we're trying to point out our journey to them today so they can get to understand where it is that we're coming from."