REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JOHANNESBURG - Joyous, singing South Africans gathered in the rain Tuesday to honor Nelson Mandela at a massive memorial service that is expected to draw some 100 heads of state and other luminaries, united in tribute to a global symbol of reconciliation.

Crowds converged on FNB Stadium in Soweto, the Johannesburg township that was a stronghold of support for the anti-apartheid struggle that Mandela embodied as a prisoner of white rule for 27 years and then during a peril-fraught transition to the all-race elections that made him president.

However, steady rain kept many people away. Shortly before the start of the ceremony, there were some 20,000 people in the 95,000-capacity stadium. Other area stadiums equipped with giant video screens for anticipated overflow crowds were largely empty.

"I would not have the life I have today if it was not for him," said Matlhogonolo Mothoagae, a postgraduate marketing student who arrived hours before the stadium gates opened. "He was jailed so we could have our freedom."

Workers were still welding at a VIP area as the first spectators arrived amid an enormous logistical challenge of organizing the memorial for Mandela, who died Dec. 5 in his Johannesburg home at the age of 95.

US President Barack Obama landed in South Africa early Tuesday. Besides Obama, eulogies were to be delivered by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao and Cuban President Raul Castro.

Other speakers include the presidents of Brazil, Namibia and India, as well as tributes from Mandela's grandchildren. South African President Jacob Zuma was to give the keynote address.

Mandela's widow, Graca Machel, was at the stadium. So were actress Charlize Theron and singer Bono. Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of the day when Mandela and South Africa's last apartheid-era president, FW de Klerk, received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace to their country.

Mandela said in his acceptance speech at the time: "We live with the hope that as she battles to remake herself, South Africa will be like a microcosm of the new world that is striving to be born."

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