THE WORLD Cup party in South Africa entered a somewhat subdued phase yesterday as Nelson Mandela buried his great-grand-daughter and the country’s football fans began to mourn their team’s defeat by Uruguay on Wednesday night.
Zenani Mandela, who was killed in a car crash on the eve of the World Cup following a pre-tournament concert, was buried before a funeral service attended by the former South African president and family and friends.
Mourners at the funeral service for the 13-year-old, held in St Stithian’s College chapel in Johannesburg, described the teenager as a beautiful young girl who was loved deeply by her family and friends.
Her grandfather, Oupa Seakamela, said she was an “old soul who knew things even adults didn’t know”.
“I called her Princess Makombo because everything she did, she did with style . . . dignity. She carried herself like a princess,” he added.
A frail Mr Mandela (91), who has chosen to stay away from World Cup events since the fatal road incident late last week, arrived at the service shortly before it began. He left early so he could “go home and rest”.
Zenani died when the car she was travelling in on the way back from the World Cup concert overturned while coming off a slip road from the M1 highway in Johannesburg. The driver of the car, Sizwe Mankazana (23), was arrested at the scene of the incident by police, who said he was drunk. He is expected to appear in court on July 26th.
Following South Africa’s crushing defeat by Uruguay on Wednesday, the country’s chances of qualifying for the next round of the tournament hang by a thread.
With that in mind, members of the Fifa local organising committee (LOC) urged the nation not to lose interest in a tournament with another three weeks to run.
“We as South Africans are great hosts. We hope the nation of South Africa will remain great hosts,” LOC spokesperson Rich Mkhondo told reporters.
“As the organising committee we are saddened by the fact that the nation is in mourning, but we call on South Africans to remain good hosts as they have been for the past seven days.”
Elsewhere, efforts to stave off industrial action by power workers took a positive turn yesterday as unions said the company could make a new wage proposal to workers.
Fears had been growing that thousands of Eskom workers would down tools today, a move that could have serious negative consequences for the World Cup, as hotels, restaurants and bars would be plunged into darkness if a strike occurred.
However, a spokesman for the Solidarity union, Dirk Hermann, said Eskom had gone to its executive committee for a new mandate that would allow it to up its wage increase offer of seven per cent. Workers are looking for 15 per cent.