reporter: they sure do. this crowd is celebrating the life of nelson mandela. there s a sense of joy here. this is not mourning. this is pride, solidarity with each other. this is gratitude for the tremendous gift, and this is song, just as a country earlier on, the halls of the stadium were filled with crowds of men and women, the dancing and singing as they come through the halls of the stadium. and i was watching them and a man said to me, this is who we are as africans. we mark every passage of our lives in song. we grieve in song. we re happy in song. we mark marriages and funerals in song. and that s what they ve been doing here. and sometimes it might be hard to conduct a formal ceremony when the crowd just wants to sing. the rain has been called a
go ahead, terry. reporter: i just wanted to let you know that the crowd is following this with incredible attention at the same time as byron pointed out in the upper deck which is sheltered from the rain as they re preparing meals and living today they have come here for the duration, to celebrate this man. and to listen to what their leaders and the world leaders have to say. this is a moment to take ownership. they re grading these guys, no question about it. you can sense the response that each of these speaker get as they come to the podium and as they leave. so it s a soccer stadium, a moment of celebration for the life of nelson mandela. and it s a political moment, too, for the people of south africa. let s try again to listen to the former prisoner with nelson
a couple of minutes. seemed, though, that the grandchildren got a rousing reception from the crowd. [ cheers ] reporter: the reaction to president obama s visit. the relationship between president obama and africa as a whole, but especially south africa because as you ve been talking about, his friendship with nelson mandela. very profound. and you could feel it, this place lit one cheers and excitement as soon as the cameras showed president obama had arrived. he will speak as a singular honor, having been invited to speak. they only met that one time. but really there are they are brothers in arms in a struggle that nelson mandela began and
i don t know if you can hear me. from our vantage point here, it sound like the general not getting a warm reception from the crowd. reporter: george, i m not sure if it was him there was a moment when they put a picture on the jumbotron of a picture of the president of south african. [ inaudible ] reporter: i don t know if it s connected but that was the sense inside the stadium. we re talking about the relationship with the anc, it is strained at best. mandela is a reminder to many, in many ways he is separate and above the anc. interestingly enough, when mandela was in prison, it was forbidden in south africa to say his name in public, for his name to appear in print. there was a generation of south africans who had no idea who nelson mandela was. it s when he came out of prison
there. if he takes up a collection full circle. taking his time with all the world leaders there. we heard the crowd explode when they saw the image of president obama. wait until they hear him speak.