“To the people of South Africa -- people of every race and walk of life -- the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us,” Obama said during the service for the freedom fighter, prisoner, president and Nobel laureate who led his nation out of apartheid.
“His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and hope found expression in his life, and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy,” he added, calling Mandela "a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world."
Despite the driving rain, crowds sang and cheered before and during the service. A roar erupted when Obama and his wife Michelle arrived.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Mandela, who died last week aged 95, “one of the greatest leaders of our time.”
“Nelson Mandela showed us the way with a heart larger than this stadium,” he added.
Leading an interfaith prayer service, South Africa's Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein recalled Mandela's "mighty power of forgiveness" and his ability to "to forgive and embrace his brothers and sisters who inflicted so much pain on him and millions of others."
The memorial will also feature eulogies from Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, Cuba’s Raul Castro and China’s vice president Li Yuanchao. Leaders spanning the globe, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, will also be in attendance, as will former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Obama shook hands with Castro a short time before addressing the stadium.
"His long walk is over, he can finally rest, he can now enjoy our beautiful country," Ramaphosa said, referencing the the title of Mandela's autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom." "His long walk is finally over, but ours is just beginning."
Celebrities such as U2 frontman Bono, actress Charlize Theron and model Naomi Campbell were among the mourners.
Mandela's extended family were also in attendance, and his grandchildren spoke. His second wife Winnie Mandela, who stood by him during his 27 years in prison, greeted his third wife Graca Machel with a hug and a kiss.
Most dignitaries sat in a covered area and behind bulletproof glass.
"It is a moment of sadness celebrated by song and dance, which is what we South Africans do," Xolisa Madywabe, CEO of a South African investment firm, told The Associated Press.
"I was here in 1990 when Mandela was freed and I am here again to say goodbye," said Beauty Pule, 51. "I am sure Mandela was proud of the South Africa he helped create. It's not perfect but no-one is perfect, and we have made great strides."Soweto, where the stadium which hosted the 2010 soccer World Cup final is located, is a township that became a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle that Mandela embodied during his decades in prison. A huge security operation was in force around the stadium, with private cars banned from the area around the facility.
"I would not have the life I have today if it was not for him," Matlhogonolo Mothoagae, a postgraduate marketing student who arrived hours before the stadium gates opened, told the AP. "He was jailed so we could have our freedom."
Tuesday is also the 20th anniversary of the day when Mandela and South Africa's last apartheid-era president, F.W. de Klerk, received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace to their country.
The government has warned that police would turn away people from the memorial when the stadium fills up, and advised South Africans who don't live in Gauteng province to honor Mandela closer to home. Some 90 big screens were being set up throughout the country.
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