Mandela Family Death Casts Pall Over World Cup

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (June 11) -- The death of Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter -- in car crash on her way home from a World Cup kick-off concert two days after her 13th birthday -- cast a pall over this proud nation today as it hosts the world's biggest sports event.

Zenani Mandela died early this morning when the car she was riding in struck a highway barricade. Police said the driver, a male whom they refused to identify, has been charged with drunken driving and could face homicide charges. No one else was injured.

The girl was on her way home from the World Cup opening concert in Soweto, which featured the Black Eyed Peas, Shakira and Alicia Keys. Tens of thousands of revelers attended the televised show, where Archbishop Desmond Tutu at one point lauded the crowd to cheer as loudly as they could for Nelson Mandela, the aging founding father of post-apartheid South Africa.

Zenani was one of Mandela's nine great-grandchildren.

The 91-year-old former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate had planned to attend the World Cup opener, South Africa versus Mexico, but he canceled those plans. It would be "inappropriate for him to personally attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening celebrations," the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.

"We continue to believe that the 2010 FIFA 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 Mandela's nickname.

With schools closed for a month and many offices winding down business early today, the streets of South African cities are flooded with revelers blasting traditional vuvuzela trumpets and celebrating the start of the first-ever World Cup to be played on African soil.

"I feel for him and his family, and it's devastating to enter this World Cup without him, but it's time we stand up for ourselves – there's been too much weight on Mandela's shoulders," said 36-year-old Lize Barnes, wearing a South African soccer jersey on a street in Cape Town. "I'm sad he won't be with us today, but our country can't rest on him alone."
Meanwhile condolences are pouring in to Mandela's family. FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent a letter addressing Mandela as his "dear and most precious friend," saying he's saddened to hear the "unspeakably tragic news."

President Jacob Zuma also sent his sympathies, saying: "The nation shares your loss and mourns with you, especially on the day on which our dreams and hopes come alive in the opening of the first FIFA World Cup on African soil."

There have been concerns for the safety of partygoers and up to 400,000 tourists. Three British college students were killed in a separate bus crash Thursday in a small town northeast of Johannesburg. And three World Cup photographers from Portugal and Spain were robbed at gunpoint in their hotel north of Johannesburg a day earlier.

Zenani Mandela's death is not the first tragedy to befall the family. The former president's oldest child, Thembikele, died in a 1969 car accident. His second child, Makaziwe, died after living only nine months. And his third child, Makgatho, died of AIDS in 2005.