Johannesburg – Some members of the audience began to nod off during President Jacob Zuma’s speech during the ANC send-off for former president Nelson Mandela in Pretoria on Saturday.

Some struggled to stay awake during the lengthy speech, which included a history of the ANC, while others looked at their phones and tablets, at the Waterkloof Air Force Base.

By 09:00 he had been speaking for 30 minutes. Zuma was addressing an African National Congress ceremony before Mandela’s body is to be flown to the Eastern Cape for his state funeral on Sunday.

Earlier, he said Mandela was great because he was a thinker and a doer.

“He [Mandela] combined two things that are not easy to do – to combine theory and practice.”

Mandela died last Thursday at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, at the age of 95.
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