JOHANNESBURG — Heartbreak intruded on the opening day of the soccer World Cup when Nelson Mandela’s 13-year-old great-granddaughter Zenani was killed in an auto accident here early on Friday. In response, Mr. Mandela canceled a much-heralded appearance at a tournament depicted as a triumphant showcase for his country and his continent.
Mandela’s Great-Granddaughter Dies in Car Crash
ruffingaa @ 2010. jún. 11. 18:07 | még nincsenek kommentek
Reuters
The former South African president Nelson Mandela hugged his great granddaughter Zenani Mandela, in this 2008 photo.
Zenani Mandela was returning home from the event’s Thursday night kickoff concert in Soweto, an extravaganza with stars like Alicia Keys and Shakira that was meant to launch the contest on a joyous note. At its conclusion, the sky lit up with fireworks as happy attendees made way to their parked vehicles.
According to police, Zenani died in a one-car accident on a Johannesburg highway. The man behind the wheel, who has yet to be named, was accused of drunk driving and may also be charged with culpable homicide, the police said.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation issued a statement saying the former president would now be unable to attend the opening ceremonies of the tournament.
The World Cup is being played in Africa for the first time, and the presence of Mr. Mandela, the frail, 91-year-old liberation hero, was expected to be an emotional highpoint to one of South Africa’s proudest days.
“We are sure that South Africans and people all over the world will stand in solidarity with Mr. Mandela and his family in the aftermath of this tragedy,” the statement read.
“We continue to believe the World Cup is a momentous and historic occasion for South Africa and the continent and we are certain it will be a huge success. Madiba will be there with you in spirit today,” the statement said, using a title from the Xhosa language by which Mr. Mandela is widely known.
Details of the accident remain incomplete. The Associated Press quoted a police spokeswoman, Edna Mamonyane, saying the driver was found to be drunk: “He lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a barricade.”
Zenani had turned 13 on Wednesday. She is the grandchild of Nelson Mandela’s daughter Zindzi.
Early reports said that Zenani’s great-grandmother — Mr. Mandela’s second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela — had been in the car, but this was later denied. A family spokesman told the South African Press Association that Ms. Mandela, herself an iconic figure in the freedom struggle, was briefly hospitalized for shock after learning the news.
Statements of condolence to the Mandela family immediately began circulating. President Jacob Zuma said, “The nation shares your loss and mourns with you, especially on the day in which our dreams and hopes come alive in the opening of the first FIFA World Cup on African soil.”
The Mandelas might rightly be considered the nation’s first family. Mr. Mandela’s triumphs are well known to his countrymen, and so are his tragedies. His oldest child, Thembikele, died in a car accident in 1969. His second child, Makaziwe, died after living only nine months. His third child, Makgatho, died of an AIDS-related illness.
Zenani was one of Mr. Mandela’s nine great-grandchildren. She was the grandchild of Zindzi Mandela, the elder of two daughters born to Nelson and Winnie.
Winnie and Nelson Mandela divorced in 1996, ending a 38-year marriage that endured the persecution of apartheid and the separation caused by his 27 years in prison. In 1998, he married Graça Machel, the widow of the Mozambican leader, Samora Machel.
Even before the accident on Friday, there had been questions about whether his frail health would allow him to attend.
It was not immediately clear whether the tournament organizers would acknowledge the death in the pageantry of the opening day.
The cancellation of his appearance offered a sharp counterpoint to Mr. Mandela’s earlier and more vigorous years when, in a bold gesture as president, he saluted South Africa’s victorious team at the rugby World Cup in 1995, urging his countrymen — black and white — to support a squad associated by many black people with the Afrikaner elite of the apartheid years.
The opening ceremony Friday had inspired hopes for a similar transcendent moment, this time from soccer, the favorite sport of the nation’s blacks.
Mr. Mandela was freed from prison in 1990 and became president after the first democratic elections in 1994. In 1999 he stepped back from power, and his successor, Thabo Mbeki, was elected to office.
But Mr. Mandela continued to exert enormous influence both within and outside South Africa.
He played a central and persuasive role in lobbying for South Africa to host the tournament. In 2004, when international soccer authorities awarded South Africa the 2010 World Cup, Mr. Mandela said their decision was a perfect gift for his country 10 years after its first democratic elections.
Then 85, he held aloft the trophy and said he felt “like a young man of 50.”
The tournament is set to open Friday with a ceremony at a glittery new 90,000-seat stadium called Soccer City followed by its first game pitting low-ranked South Africa’s national team, nicknamed Bafana Bafana, or, The Boys, against Mexico.
Boats head to teen sailor drifting in Indian Ocean
ruffingaa @ 2010. jún. 11. 17:47 | még nincsenek kommentek
CANBERRA, Australia — A 16-year-old sailor on a round-the-world journey alone was drifting in the frigid southern Indian Ocean on Friday as rescue boats headed toward her yacht, damaged by 30-foot waves that knocked out her communications and prompted her to set off a distress signal.
After a tense 20 hours of silence, a search plane launched from Australia's west coast made radio contact with Abby Sunderland on Friday.
Her boat's mast was broken — ruining satellite phone reception — and was dragging with the sail in the ocean, said search coordinator Mick Kinley, acting chief of the Australia Maritime Safety Authority that chartered a commercial jet for the search.
But the keel was intact, the yacht was not taking on water and Sunderland was equipped for the conditions, he said.
"The aircraft (crew) spoke to her. They told her help was on the way and she sounds like she's in good health," Kinley told reporters in Canberra.
"She's going to hang in there until a vessel can get to her," probably on Saturday, he said.
A lifelong sailor, Sunderland had begun her journey trying to be the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop around the world and continued her trip after mechanical failures dashed that dream.
She told searchers Friday that she was doing fine with a space heater and at least two weeks' worth of food, said family spokesman William Bennett. Support team member Jeff Casher said the boat had gotten knocked on its side several times.
Abby's father, Laurence Sunderland, thanked the Australian rescuers' quick response in sending out a search plane.
He told The Associated Press by telephone Friday that a fishing boat en route to his daughter's coordinates should arrive Saturday local time. The seas in the area are still choppy, but calmer than before. "It's all looking very promising," he said.
Her father rejected criticism that it was far too dangerous to allow a 16-year-old to sail around the world by herself.
"Sailing and life in general is dangerous. Teenagers drive cars. Does that mean teenagers shouldn't drive a car?" Laurence Sunderland told the AP. "I think people who hold that opinion have lost their zeal for life. They're living in a cotton-wool tunnel to make everything safe."
Abby's brother, Zac, himself a veteran of a solo sail around the world at age 17, said he told his sister to be prepared for storms and other problems. But he said it's in her nature to handle those calmly.
"I think Abby is quite a conqueror, quite level-headed," her brother said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday.
But renowned Australian round-the-world sailor Ian Kiernan said Abby should not have been in the southern Indian Ocean during the current southern hemisphere winter.
"Abby would be going through a very difficult time with mountainous seas and essentially hurricane-force winds," Kiernan told Sky News television.
Conditions can quickly become perilous for any sailor exposed to the elements in that part of the world.
Sunderland — whose father is a shipwright and has a yacht management company — set sail from Los Angeles County's Marina del Rey in her boat, Wild Eyes, on Jan. 23 in an attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone without stopping. Her brother briefly held the record in 2009.
Sunderland soon ran into equipment problems and had to stop for repairs. She gave up the goal of setting the record in April, but continued.
On May 15, Australian 16-year-old Jessica Watson claimed the record after completing a 23,000-mile (37,000-kilometer) circumnavigation in 210 days. Watson and her family sent a private message of hope to Sunderland's family, spokesman Andrew Fraser said.
Friday's communication with Abby was the first since satellite phone communications were lost early Thursday.
She had made several broken calls to her family in Thousand Oaks, California, reporting her yacht was being tossed by 30-foot (9-meter) waves — as tall as a 3-story building. An hour after her last call ended, her emergency beacons began signaling.
The search plane — a chartered Qantas Airbus A330 jet that left Perth early Friday — jet faced a 4,700-mile (7,600-kilometer) round trip from Perth to Sunderland's boat, which is near the limit of its range.
Qantas spokesman Tom Woodward said the airliner flew five hours out to sea to reach the area where the beacons were transmitting, then maneuvered for another hour before spotting the 40-foot (13-meter) yacht. In all, it hovered over the site for two hours, Qantas said.
The Australian maritime authority did not say how much the rescue mission would cost but said it would not be seeking compensation for the search, which initially fell just outside of Australia's search and rescue region.
"That's the way the system runs," search coordinator Kinley said. "It's our obligation to do this and we'll fulfill those obligations as Australia does."
The CROSS maritime rescue center on the island of Reunion, off Madagascar, said it had sent three boats in her direction and they were expected to reach her Saturday.
Philippe Museux, CROSS director, told French RFO television station in Reunion that it had asked a fishing boat to head to the zone.
Sunderland left Cape Town, South Africa, on May 21 and on Monday reached the halfway point of her voyage.
On Wednesday, she wrote in her log that it had been a rough few days with huge seas that had her boat "rolling around like crazy."
Information on her website said that as of June 8, she had completed a 2,100-mile (3,400-kilometer) leg from South Africa to north of the Kerguelen Islands, taking a route to avoid an ice hazard area. Ahead of her lay more than 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) of ocean on a 10- to 16-day leg to a point south of Cape Leeuwin on the southwest tip of Australia.
World Cup opening ceremony with happy noise
ruffingaa @ 2010. jún. 11. 17:32 | még nincsenek kommentek
JOHANNESBURG — The first World Cup ever held in Africa opened Friday in a dazzling burst of joy, color and noise — and just a tinge of sadness.
Before a jubilant, horn-blowing crowd in Soccer City, the spectacular stadium between Johannesburg and Soweto, hundreds of African dancers in vivid greens, reds and yellows paraded onto the field for the opening ceremony of the monthlong tournament.
Most of the fans were in the yellow jerseys of Bafana Bafana, the host country's team, with a few pockets of green — fans of Mexico, South Africa's foe in the opening match.
The elation was tempered by news that Nelson Mandela, the revered anti-apartheid leader and former South African president, would not attend the ceremony. The 91-year-old Mandela is frail, and decided not to come after his 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash on the way home from Thursday night's World Cup concert.
South African President Jacob Zuma, a scarf in national colors around his neck, told the crowd just before kickoff that he had a message from Mandela: "The game must start. You must enjoy the game."
Zuma was joined at midfield by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who depicted this World Cup as a triumph for Africa, and added "The spirit of Mandela is in Soccer City."
The crowd then rose for the Mexican and South African national anthems — the latter a fusion of the main hymn of the anti-apartheid movement and the anthem of the former white-minority government.
Then it was time for kickoff and the horns sounded louder than ever, like a swarm of bees amplified to near-deafening levels.
Several icons of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa were on hand — including Mandela's former wife, Winnie, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who at one point was dancing in his seat to the music.
Former South Africa President F.W. De Klerk, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for negotiating an end to white-minority rule, also was present, organizers said.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also was among the VIPs.
It was not an occasion for those who like it quiet. Many of the fans came equipped with vuvuzelas — the plastic horns which emit a loud and distinctive blare. Incredibly, the din they made was briefly drowned out by the overflight of military jets just before the ceremony started.
The public address announcer then begged the crowd to ease up on the noise so the global television audience could hear the music. The plea met with limited success.
An all-star cast of musicians, including South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and American singer R. Kelley, performed. Cast members brought out large placards with the flags of the 32 nations competing in the tournament, holding them high as a final burst of fireworks ended the show.
Soccer City, which seats more than 90,000, wasn't yet full at the start of the ceremony. Thousands of fans were stuck in traffic jams on roads leading to the stadium — regaled along the way by groups of dancing, chanting young people in Bafana shirts and by vendors selling the multicolored South African flag.
