A man raises a poster of former South African president Nelson Mandela during the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg on Friday. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

Nelson Mandela did not attend the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup after his 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash after heading home from a concert in Soweto.

Zenani Mandela died in a one-car accident after leaving the World Cup kickoff concert at the Orlando Stadium, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said

Mandela also won't be at the opening game in Johannesburg, dashing South Africans' hopes the frail 91-year-old former president would make a rare appearance.

Mandela and his family were "torn up" by the accident, the foundation added, saying he was at the ceremony in spirit.

Johannesburg Metro police spokeswoman Edna Mamonyane said the driver of the car, a man, had been arrested and charged with drunk driving. Police did not name the driver, but said he could face culpable homicide charges.

"The Metro police found that he was drunk," Mamonyane said. "He lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a barricade."

The Mandela foundation has also denied reports that the former president's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was in the car.

"She was not in the car," foundation spokesman Sello Hatang told The Associated Press.

Family asks for privacy

Hatang asked that the Mandela family be given privacy to mourn, adding that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was treated for shock at a hospital after being informed of the accident and the death of her great-granddaughter. Hatang said Madikizela-Mandela was admitted "for a few hours" and had now been released.

Thursday's World Cup concert had drawn tens of thousands of people to Soweto, and traffic was congested into the early hours Friday.

Zenani, who celebrated her 13th birthday June 9, was one of the anti-apartheid icon's nine great-grandchildren.

"The family has asked for privacy as they mourn this tragedy," the foundation said in a statement.

Mandela has largely retired from public life, although it had been anticipated he would make a brief appearance at the opening ceremony Friday.

In a statement Thursday, the foundation said it had been "inundated with requests for meetings, and it would be impossible for Mr. Mandela to accede to even a small fraction of these."

But Mandela met this week with members of the Black Eyed Peas, one of the main acts at Thursday's concert, and Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and coach Carlos Queiroz — the latter a former coach of South Africa.

With files from CBC News