Zuma loudly booed at Mandela memorial

South African President Jacob Zuma waves as he arrives at the First National Bank (FNB) Stadium, also known as Soccer City, ahead of the national memorial service for late former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg December 10, 2013 President Jacob Zuma was loudly booed by mourners at Nelson Mandela’s memorial at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday, suffering political humiliation as the world watched. Sections of the crowd of tens of thousands jeered when Zuma arrived at the venue in Soweto, and again every time his face appeared on screens during the ceremony. It marked a contrast to the welcome given to Zuma’s predecessor Thabo Mbeki and US President Barack Obama, who delivered a eulogy for Mandela.

The stadium erupted in applause as Obama and his wife Michele appeared on giant screens, but the mood changed the moment the camera moved to Zuma, who is weathering a political storm in the run-up to next year’s general elections.

ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa urged the crowd to show restraint, invoking the example of Mandela. “We should show the same level of discipline as Madiba exuded,” said Ramaphosa, who remarked earlier that the nearly 100 foreign leaders at the ceremony represented “billions of people around the world who are saying farewell to Nelson Mandela”.

Earlier, as Mbeki arrived at the stadium, the crowd eagerly chanted the name of the man who succeeded Mandela and had effectively been his prime minister during his single-term presidency. When Zuma arrived, a number of people in the crowd made a rolling hand signal, usually interpreted to mean political change is wanted.

The crowd also warmly welcomed FW de Klerk, South Africa’s last white president who released Mandela from jail after 27 years and negotiated the white minority out of power.

South African President Jacob Zuma waves as he arrives at the First National Bank (FNB) Stadium, also known as Soccer City, ahead of the national memorial service for late former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg December 10, 2013

President Jacob Zuma was loudly booed by mourners at Nelson Mandela’s memorial at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday, suffering political humiliation as the world watched.

Sections of the crowd of tens of thousands jeered when Zuma arrived at the venue in Soweto, and again every time his face appeared on screens during the ceremony. It marked a contrast to the welcome given to Zuma’s predecessor Thabo Mbeki and US President Barack Obama, who delivered a eulogy for Mandela.