6 December 2013
The late Nelson Mandela will be laid to rest at his home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Sunday, 15 December following a week of national mourning, President Jacob Zuma announced on Friday. Madiba passed away in his family home in Houghton, Johannesburg on Thursday night.
Briefing the media after visiting Mandela’s family in Houghton, Johannesburg on Friday afternoon, Zuma said that the former president would lie in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria from Wednesday, 11 December to Friday, 13 December.
Zuma also announced that this Sunday, 8 December, had been declared a national day of prayer and reflection, with the nation called upon to gather at their places of worship to pray and reflect on Madiba’s life and legacy.
The official memorial service for Mandela will take place at the FNB Stadium outside Soweto in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 10 December. Several other memorial events will take place around the country over the mourning period.
Zuma thanked all South Africans and people from across the world for the support they had shown to the Mandela family.
Source: SAnews.gov.za
