The government's choice of words, in particular the use of "serious", was clear cause for concern to South Africa's 53 million people, for whom Mandela remains a potent symbol of the struggle against decades of white-minority rule.
Uchaguzi wa serikali wa maneno, hasa matumizi ya "makubwa", ulikuwa ni sababu ya wazi ya kuwatia wasiwasi watu milioni 53 wa Afrika Kusini, ambao Mandela bado ni ishara yenye nguvu ya mapambano dhidi ya miongo kadhaa ya utawala wa wazungu wachache.