In the end, one of the most enduring images was one of the last. Against the backdrop of the hills of his childhood and draped in the multi-coloured flag of the new South Africa that he helped to create, Nelson Mandela’s coffin was borne to its final resting place.

Goodbye to an icon: Nelson Mandela’s coffin is slowly lowered into the ground in the hills close to where he grew up, at the small, private burial in Qunu as military salute and mourners mark the poignant moment.