JOHANNESBURG-based Tsakane Maroleng seemed proud on Wednesday morning that he had made "the long trip across the Jukskei River to Pretoria to go pay his final respects to Nelson Mandela".
Cruising in his blue BMW X5 with two of his former high school friends, the 29-year-old lawyer from Sandton says it took him "roughly" 30 minutes in relatively free-flowing traffic to get to Fountains Valley in Pretoria.
Fountains Valley is one of the park-and-ride locations where Tshwane metro buses will throughout the day pick up those who wish to see Mandela’s remains for the last time at the Union Buildings. The trio found about 80 people patiently waiting in a queue for the buses, which appeared to have been delayed.
Mr Maroleng says Mandela was great because he stood apart from many renowned leaders in the world. "He is a liberator, a unifier, a traditionalist, a culturalist, a fighter and a father. He has done all those things very well, and not just for himself but for his people."
As a lawyer, he is inspired by Mandela’s sharp mind, insight and rational thinking.
In depth: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 1918- 2013
News and views on the death, and life, of former president Nelson Mandela, with
tributes and photographsMandela, 95, passed away last Thursday at his family home in Houghton after a long illness. For Mr Maroleng and his friends, Kopo Matubatuba and Kholofelo Nkwe, both also 29, it would be the first and the last time that they physically come close to Mr Mandela, who became the first president of the democratic South Africa in 1994.
In 1993, about five years before the trio went to King Edwards High School in Houghton, Mandela visited the school, declared a national monument in 1982. Mr Nkwe says they have since seen the footage of Mandela’s visit, "and we have ties with him in that kind of way". The trio matriculated at King Edwards in 2002.
The well-travelled Mr Nkwe, a financial planner, says he lived in Japan for five years until last year, and saw how popular Mr Mandela was on the international stage. "It is easy to take it for granted when you hear people talk about him because he is from home," he says. "But I think it really hits home when you realise that he is no longer there."
Mr Matubatuba, who works in the television industry and sports long dreadlocks, says he hails originally from Mthata in the Eastern Cape, "very close" to the ancestral home in Qunu where Mandela will be buried at the family graveyard on Sunday. His remains are to be airlifted from Pretoria to Qunu on Friday.
Mr Matubatuba says Qunu has developed since he was a child, citing road infrastructure as a major improvement.
One hour later, at about 11.30am, two buses arrived at Fountains Valley to pick up the mourners.
