SOWETO, South Africa — The mood was more festive than funereal. Outside Nelson Mandela’s former home in Soweto on Friday, crowds sang, chanted and danced. People carried posters emblazoned with his famous quotations. Children ran through the streets holding up pictures of the former president’s face torn from the morning’s newspapers.

“We love you, Papa Mandela,” they cried.

Eunice Ngakane, 40, from North West Province, said she and her friends were going to spend the whole night on Vilakazi Street, remembering the national hero who had died the night before. Then they would “freshen up” in the morning and come right back again.

“When Africa cries, Africa sings,” said Japie Molatedi, 55, who described himself as a “typical Sowetan.”

Samantha Nkabinde, 28, a financial analyst in Johannesburg, said it was only fitting for the mourning to take place in such a public fashion. “He never sat behind closed doors or walls,” she said. “He went out among the people, touched so many people.”