South Africa celebrates life of woman who fought apartheid

NELSON Mandela called Albertina Sisulu "one of the greatest South Africans" yesterday as the nation mourned a woman celebrated for her fight against apartheid.

Sisulu collapsed and died at her Johannesburg home on 2 June at the age of 92.

Mandela's message, read by his wife Graca Machel during yesterday's funeral at a Soweto football stadium, set off a brief rally of singing and dancing in his honour that interrupted an occasion that was both mournful and celebratory.

The service followed a week of national mourning during which flags were flown at half-mast across South Africa and at its foreign missions.

President Jacob Zuma, who delivered the eulogy, declared a funeral with military honours - as close as possible to a state funeral.