Mandela's concert message

Tony Blair was honoured to welcome Nelson Mandela

A total of 20,000 people gathered in London's Trafalgar Square on Sunday for the free concert to mark South Africa Freedom Day.

The BBC's David Sillito was among those at the event.

But he says its message ran deeper than simply being a thank you to those who had opposed apartheid.

Outside Trafalgar Square were large crowds of disappointed pop fans unable to get in to the free concert.

Inside, there were perhaps equal numbers wondering if more than five hours in the cold wind and rain was the best way of spending a gloomy Sunday evening.

But the experience on stage was a unique one.

REM were among the performers

It was the only pop concert to have been held on the historic square, and it was a concert that featured one of the most highly regarded people on the planet, Nelson Mandela.

Amongst the older members of the audience standing on the edge of the throng were several who had spent weeks and months camped outside the nearby South African High Commission on the 24-hour picket against apartheid during the 1970s and 1980s.

One of those picketers had been George Johannes, who was watching Sunday's events from inside the building, and greeting visitors in his new role, as Deputy High Commissioner.

This was a day of thanks to all those who had opposed apartheid and spent what seemed long and fruitless years until the final breakthrough in the 1990s.

'Rocking against apartheid'

For many young fans, the sight of politicians alongside pop stars was an unusual one, for the older members of the audience it was a reminder of thousands of previous cold nights rocking against apartheid, racism or the bomb.

Irish band The Corrs took centre stage

But this was more than just a day of celebration.

The speech by Nelson Mandela was more than just a vote of thanks to political activists of ten years ago.

It was also a speech of support to the current South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Political influence

The extraordinary power, charm and charisma of Nelson Mandela remains politically important.

It was being wielded on a pop stage in order to try to silence critics of the current regime and answer accusations that the ANC Government is displaying an increasingly dictatorial tendency.

Trafalgar Square hosted its first concert

It was also a means of reminding Britain that South Africa's problems had not been solved by free elections.

But while many may have understood the points he was making, the majority of the audience had simply come to enjoy themselves and see a legend in person.

No wonder Tony Blair took his chance to appear alongside him and lead the former President out on to the stage.

Its impact was perhaps rather undermined when a technical problem left the British Prime Minister's speech almost totally inaudible to the crowd.

Guest of honour

But in the end there are few concerts in which large numbers of the audience say they have turned up to listen to the guest of honour rather than the music.

His ability to inspire and radiate a sense of hope has made him an icon across the world, far beyond the liberation struggle in South Africa

David Sillito on Nelson Mandela

But Nelson Mandela is not like other politicians.

His ability to inspire and radiate a sense of hope has made him an icon across the world, far beyond the liberation struggle in South Africa.

If South Africa wants to remind people of its existence and its problems then no one else can do it with such force.

Amongst the faces pressed against the barriers trying to get in were families from across the world who wanted to say they had seen Nelson Mandela, that they had heard him speak.

And while many left disappointed, unable to get in to the square, there were thousands more for whom the night had been a unique moment.

It was of course a celebration of past victories, addressing the difficulties of today's South Africa is not so easy to do on a pop stage.