December 11, 2013
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Leandi Kolver.
Making headlines:

The ANC says that jeering at President Zuma during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service did South Africa a disservice.

Human rights groups demand that Egypt probe the killings of supporters of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.

And, African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma says all of Africa is mourning Mandela’s death.
 

The African National Congress has condemned the behaviour of people who booed during the memorial service for former president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday.

ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said some amongst the mourners displayed despicable and unbecoming behaviour by repeatedly heckling President Jacob Zuma.

Mthembu called upon South Africans to conduct themselves in a manner that befitted the stature and sacrifices made by Mandela.

The memorial was not the platform to air political views. Those who booed had let down all South Africans present at the memorial and watching on television, Mthembu said.

 

Rights groups urged Egypt's army-backed government on Tuesday to investigate mass killings of protesters by security forces during the dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in August after Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was deposed.

Interim authorities have pressed the crackdown on dissent since then, jailing thousands of Mursi supporters and outlawing the Islamist movement that propelled him to power last year in Egypt's first freely contested presidential election.

Associate director at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Gasser Abdel-Razek, said there could be no hope for the rule of law and political stability in Egypt without accountability for what may be the single biggest incident of mass killing in Egypt's recent history on August 14.

 

African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said that all of Africa was mourning but also celebrating the life of Madiba.

“We stand proud of you Madiba, who represents the best in African values,” she said, speaking at the official memorial service for former President Nelson Mandela at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Dlamini-Zuma said his humanity, his compassion, his courage and openness meant that working with him, listening to him, and talking to him was always a lesson.

She thanked Africa for, during the struggle for democracy and freedom, sharing her blood and surrendering her children so that her children could be free. She also said Nelson Mandela made countless sacrifices, while the lessons he had taught had "graciously prepared the country for internalising his immortality."
 

Also making headlines:

Mixed emotions as Nelson Mandela's hearse arrives at the Union Buildings, where his body will lie in state until Friday.
 

And, US President Barack Obama and Cuba's Raul Castro shake hands as the world says farewell to Mandela.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today