Nelson Mandela's Body to Lie in State Before 15 December Funeral

Nelson Mandela's state funeral will take place on 15 December. Sunday (8 December) will be a "national day of prayer and reflection", South Africa's president Jacob Zuma has announced.

Speaking from Johannesburg, Zuma made a public announcement about Mandela's funeral following his death on Thursday evening.

The memorial service will take place at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 10 December.

From the 11-13 December Mandela's body will lie in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Zuma said.

Official memorial services will also be held all over the country during this period, he said.

Zuma announced a week of national mourning, which will include an open-air memorial service at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg.

"We should should all work together to organise the most fitting funeral for this outstanding son of our country and the father of our young nation, " he said.

Zuma also said the outpouring of love in South Africa and across the world has been "unprecedented".

He added: "It demonstrates the calibre of the leader that Madiba was."

Zuma ended his announcement by saying: "love live Madiba".

The anti-apartheid hero will be buried in his home village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape. He will be buried with his eldest son Makgato Mandela, his first daughter Makaziwe, who died as an infant, and his second son Madiba Thembekile.

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