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

"We can salute you as a fighter for freedom. Farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader.

'South Africa will continue to rise'

During the funeral, South African President Jacob Zuma told the country to carry on his 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.

After the ceremony, Mandela's coffin was transported to a graveyard sitting on the sprawling family estate 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.

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.

综合外国媒体报道，当地时间12月15日，南非前总统曼德拉的“世纪葬礼”在其故乡东开普省乌姆塔塔库努村举行。国葬仪式过后，按照科萨族传统，曼德拉的遗体被葬入家族墓地。

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