At Soccer City stadium of Johannersburgo thousands of people gathered this morning to say their farewell to Nelson Mandela. About a hundred of Heads of State or Government also attended the church service for the South African leader, who died last Thursday at 95.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro were two of the six heads of state appointed to speak in honor of Madiba. In a historic move two presidents greeted cordially in public, minutes before Obama was directed towards the podium to deliver his words of condolences to the thousands of South Africans who gathered under heavy rain in the famous district of Soweto , Johannesburg .
It was only seven or eight seconds. A moment aired live on CNN and NBC, two of the major television networks in the world. The images have gone viral on the web.
Other speakers at the ceremony presidents Dilma Rousseff ( Brazil ) , Hifikepunye Pohamba (Namibia ) and Pranab Mukherjee (India ) , and Vice President Li Yuanchao (China ) .