South Africa After Mandela

It was advertised as a political rally, but it felt more like a celebration as tens of thousands of government supporters gathered under bright South African skies. The members of the ruling African National Congress party came to bid a very fond farewell to their leader, a man they call a modern Moses.

"He's a very great man," said one woman. "You will never find any other man like Mandela. He is God's creature. God sent him to come and fight for us."

CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton reports there was adulation in the air as Mandela and his chosen successor, Thabo Mbeki, took a victory lap around the Soweto stadium.

Now 80, and increasingly frail, the president had to be helped to the podium. Mandela spoke of the long road traveled since the dark days of apartheid.

"Today we can walk tall and proudly say we are all South Africans," Mandela said.

This is indeed a new South Africa - where the black majority controls political power and the ANC under Mbeki will remain the dominant party. But Mandela surely will remain one of the hardest political acts to follow in history, particularly now that the glory days of revolution are gone. The next generation will have to tackle some very prosaic problems.

"We must fight against crime and corruption," said Mbeki at the rally.

There's also the matter of the failing economy that trapped millions in crushing poverty and fostered growing anger at a white minority that still controls the country's economy. And the crime wave is of epic proportions: 25,000 homicides last year alone; a murder rate seven times higher than the United States.

With all of the problems that remain and the dreams deferred, it's easy to lose sight of one of Nelson Mandela's crowning achievements: In a few days time, South Africans of every race will take part in free elections for a peaceful passing of the torch.

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