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Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, was laid to rest Sunday after a state funeral filled with tearful eulogies and strident vows to pursue his ideals of equality and justice.

Mandela's casket was buried at his family plot in his rural boyhood home of Qunu, watched by his widow Graca Machel, ex-wife Winnie Madikizela–Mandela, other family members and around 450 selected guests.

The interment followed a ceremonial state funeral that ran well over its allotted two hours, as speaker after speaker paid emotional tribute to the man who led South Africa out of the apartheid era.

"The person who lies here is South Africa's greatest son," said ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa in an opening address.

A 21-gun salute and full military honour guard had escorted Mandela's coffin to the marquee where 4,500 mourners said their final goodbyes.

His flag-draped casket was placed on cow skins, surrounded by 95 candles -- each signifying a year of his extraordinary life.

The frail and ageing leaders of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle also attended: George Bizos, Desmond Tutu and Ahmed Kathrada, whose voice broke with as he delivered a eulogy for his old friend.

"I first met him 67 years ago," said Kathrada, who along with Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1963.

He recalled his fellow inmate as a powerful amateur boxer who could cope far better than others with the physical challenge of hard labour.

"What I saw in hospital was a man helpless and reduced to a shadow of himself," he said struggling not to break down.

"We can salute you as a fighter for freedom. Farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader.

'South Africa will continue to rise'

During the funeral, South African President Jacob Zuma told the country to carry on his legacy.

"One thing we can assure you of today Tata (father), as you take your final steps, is that South Africa will continue to rise.

"South Africa will continue to rise because we dare not fail you," Zuma said.

After the ceremony, Mandela's coffin was transported to a graveyard sitting on the sprawling family estate Mandela built in Qunu after his release from prison in 1990.

"It was in that village that I spent some of the happiest years of my boyhood and whence I trace my earliest memories," he wrote in his autobiography.

Overseen by male members of his clan in line with traditional Xhosa rites, the burial included the slaughter of an ox -- a ritual marking of a life's milestones.

Mandela was referred to throughout as Dalibhunga, the name given to him at the age of 16 after undergoing the initiation to adulthood.