Large video screens were set up around the village of Qunu for the more than 4,000 mourners who gathered for the service. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption
Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013 Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela struggled for decades to bring freedom to South Africa. In 1994, he became the country's first black president.
Special Series
Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
Nelson Mandela casts his vote during South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994. Mandela's example led to more democracy across Africa, although overall political freedom has declined on the continent in the last five years. John Parkin/AP hide caption
A military aircraft carrying the body of former South African President Nelson Mandela departs from Waterkloof military airbase for the Eastern Cape on Saturday in Pretoria, South Africa. Oli Scarff/Getty Images hide caption
A South African boy stands in front of a mural of Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa, earlier this month. Veronique Tadjo for NPR hide caption
On Dec. 8, three days after Nelson Mandela's death, a girl in Johannesburg lights a candle in his memory. Poet Mbali Vilakazi has written an elegy for Mandela that asks the next generation of South Africans to continue his legacy. Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A mother and her son stand in their garden behind a fence at the perimeter of Nelson Mandela's property in Qunu, South Africa, as funeral preparations continue Friday. Mandela will be buried Sunday in the small, rural village that was his boyhood home. Yannis Behrakis/Reuters/Landov hide caption
As President Obama and other world leaders spoke Tuesday in Johannesburg at a memorial for Nelson Mandela, a man stood nearby and appeared to be doing sign language interpretation. Many in the deaf community are outraged because the man appeared to be faking. Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Graca Machel bids farewell to her husband, Nelson Mandela, whose body lay in state Wednesday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
South African President Jacob Zuma addresses the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday. The audience at the service began booing Zuma from the moment he stepped into the stadium. Meng Chenguang/Xinhua/Landov hide caption
President Obama delivers a speech Tuesday during the memorial service for late South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg. Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A woman sings in the stands at the memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday. Muhammed Muheisen/AP hide caption
People holding a South African flag sing as they arrive at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa, to watch a telecast of the Nelson Mandela memorial service on Tuesday. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
Members of the public sing and dance as they arrive for the Nelson Mandela memorial service at the FNB Stadium, on Tuesday in Johannesburg, South Africa. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images hide caption