SOWETO, South Africa (AFP) - Tens of thousands of voices soared over Soweto's Soccer City stadium Tuesday in a moving rendition of South Africa's national anthem at the start of a memorial service for peace icon Nelson Mandela.

Mourners from South Africa and abroad, nearly 100 heads of state, royalty and religious leaders, gathered in the rain at the venue where the man known as the father of the nation made his last major public appearance in 2010.