Bono and wife Ali Hewson were among mourners that filed past the body of Nelson Mandela, as he lies in state for three days.
Dressed in all black, The U2 singer was pictured holding the hands of his wife Ali and also of Zelda le Grange, the former assistant to Mr Mandela, as they walked past the casket of the former South African president.
Mandela’s coffin is currently outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria where it will lie in state for three days.
The coffin lay within a temporary mahogany structure in the open-air amphitheater with his head and shoulders visible behind a glass cover.
The first to file past his body were South African President Jacob Zuma, Mandela's wife Graca Machel and former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, the nation's last white leader who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela.
"I want my child to know Mandela has fought for her," Cynthia Shipalana, 27, said as she waited in line with her six- year-old daughter. "She should see him and tell her grandchildren about this day."
The government expects as many as 2,000 people an hour to file past Mandela's casket.
His body will be transported on Dec. 14 to Qunu, the village where he spent part of his childhood in the Eastern Cape Province, before his funeral the next day.
http://www.sundayworld.com
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