State Funeral Planned For Mandela

Elaborate funeral plans were set in motion in South Africa yesterday evening just hours after it was announced that the country’s revered first black president Nelson Mandela has died at age 95. 

The 12-day state memorial is expected to be an unparalleled event in South Africa’s history, drawing a plethora of foreign dignitaries of every stripe, members of royal houses and a long list of celebrities.

The preparations for the nearly two-week-long affair are expected to bring the country of 53million to a virtual standstill. 

The sheer number of dignitaries, including numerous heads of state, is sure to spell a logistical nightmare for the South African government, which will be tasked with providing air-tight security during the solemn event.

In the next three or four days, Mandela's body will be taken to a military hospital, where it will be embalmed, CNN reported. 

The public will have a chance to say goodbye to their beloved father figure during a memorial service at the Johannesburg soccer stadium that hosted the 2010 World Cup. 

Following the memorial, Mandela’s remains will be placed in a glass-topped casket under a dome in Pretoria close to the spot where he was sworn in as South Africa's first democratically elected president in 1994. 

Mr Mandela is expected the lie in state for several days ahead of his burial. 

On Friday or Saturday next week, Mandela will be flown to his rural hometown of Qunu in the eastern Cape Province, where he will be laid to rest in accordance with his final wishes.

- Dailymail