South Africa's heroine Mandela laid to rest

SOWETO, South Africa - South Africa laid to rest anti-apartheid heroine Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Saturday, after 40,000 people from across the political spectrum mourned her at a funeral ceremony in her township of Soweto.

Madikizela-Mandela's death on April 2 at the age of 81 after a long illness was met by an outpouring of emotion across the country, with the ruling African National Congress and opposition parties holding memorials to remember her courage in the struggle to end white-minority rule.

The official funeral service for the ex-wife of the late Nelson Mandela took place on Saturday morning in Soweto - the Johannesburg township at the forefront of the battle against apartheid where she lived.