S Africa closes queues for Mandela

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Desember 2013 | 19.12

13 December 2013 Last updated at 06:58 ET
Crowds gather at Union Buildings in Pretoria

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Tens of thousands of mourners formed queues several kilometres long

South Africans have been warned not to attempt to go to see Nelson Mandela's body in the capital, Pretoria, unless they are already in the queue.

The anti-apartheid leader's body is lying in state at the Union Buildings, where he was sworn in as South Africa's first black president in 1994.

More than 50,000 people were waiting for buses when the warning came.

Mr Mandela will be buried at his ancestral home in Qunu on Sunday. He died on 5 December aged 95.

His body is to be flown to the rural area of the Eastern Cape where he grew up.

Friday is the last of three days for people to file past the body in Pretoria.

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"Start Quote

It was my daughter who said we should sleep here and try again, because she didn't want to go back without seeing him"

End Quote Nosiswe Maduna In the queue

The government said it could not guarantee everyone already waiting for buses would get in.

The BBC has witnessed a sizeable group of people breaking through police lines into the Union Building gardens towards the front of the queue.

The response from the public to view Mr Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba, had been "overwhelming and heart-warming", government spokesman Phumla Williams said in a statement.

Between 12,000 and 14,000 people had paid their respects to Mr Mandela on the first day he laid in state "with two people passing every three seconds on day two", she said.

If any additional numbers came on Friday it would make it physically impossible for people to get the opportunity to file past the body, she added.

"We appeal to members of the public who have not had the opportunity to pay their respects to President Mandela at the Union Buildings, to say goodbye in their own personal way."

Correspondents who have visited the coffin said Mr Mandela's body could be seen through a glass screen, dressed in one of his trademark patterned shirts.

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Lying in state

  • Nelson Mandela's body lies in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria 11-13 December
  • Coffin taken every morning from the mortuary to the Union Buildings
  • Public encouraged to line the route
  • Mandela family and selected visitors viewed the body from 10:00 on Wednesday; open to public from midday
  • The public then able to view the body from 08:00 to 17:30 on Thursday and Friday

At each end of the casket stood two navy officers clad in white uniforms, with their swords pointing down.

Some mourners stopped briefly to pray, while a number of people reportedly fainted.

Nosiswe Maduna and her 14-year-old daughter, who travelled 220km (136 miles) from Senekal in Free State to come to Pretoria, were among thousands turned away on Thursday.

They spent the night in the open at a petrol station and began queuing at 03:00 local time (05:00 GMT) so as not to be disappointed again.

"It was my daughter who said we should sleep here and try again, because she didn't want to go back without seeing him," she told the AFP news agency.

After 15:30 GMT, the body will be returned to One Military Hospital before being flown from Waterkloof Military Airbase near Pretoria to Mthatha on Saturday.

Lt-Gen Xolani Mabangu, from the defence force, said chief mourners among the Madiba clan and Mandela family, as well as senior government officials, would accompany the body, the South African Press Association reports.

A military guard of honour will welcome the arrival, and the coffin will be placed on a gun carriage and transported to a hearse.

Mr Mandela's body will then be taken to his home village of Qunu, where the Thembu community will conduct a traditional ceremony.

A national day of reconciliation will take place on 16 December when a statue of Mr Mandela will be unveiled at the Union Buildings.


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