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 Such was the crush of people wanting to see Mandela's body in the
Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria, that the government had
asked others to stay away from the park-and-ride facilities set up
to take mourners to the area.
"We cannot guarantee that every person who is presently in the
queues at the various centers will be given access to the Union
Buildings," the government said in a statement. At least 50,000
people were waiting at park-and-ride points by 0530 GMT.
There were moments of tension as police tried to turn mourners away.
At the Pretoria Showgrounds, one of the park-and-ride gathering
points, the crowd broke through the metal entrance gate when
officers tried to stop people coming through. Some fell to the
ground and hundreds streamed past before order was restored.
On another access road, police had to force back people trying to
break through crowd barriers.
"I am really angry, we tried for two days now to see Mr Mandela and
thank him for changing this country and bringing us together. Now we
have to go home with heavy hearts," said Ilse Steyn of Pretoria.
Winding queues snaked for kilometers (miles) from the government
site perched on a hill overlooking the city, well into the heart of
the capital.
The body of South Africa's first black president was lying in state
for a third and final day before being flown on Saturday to the
Eastern Cape for a funeral on Sunday at his ancestral home in Qunu,
700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg. Mandela died last week
aged 95.
"I don't mind waiting, today is the last day and I must say thank
you. I am who I am and where I am because of this man," said
Johannesburg resident Elsie Nkuna, who said she had taken two days
off work to see Mandela.
Filing past the coffin, some pausing to bow, mourners viewed the
body laid out in a green and gold batik shirt, a style that he wore
and had made famous. His face was visible.
On Friday, his grandchild Mandla sat beside the coffin,
acknowledging mourners with smiles.
In the heat of the South African summer, army chaplains and medics
handed out bottles of water and sachets of tissues.
SOME MOURNERS GOING HUNGRY
The huge turnout surpassed the two previous days by far. About
21,000 people paid their last respects on Wednesday and 39,000 on
Thursday, Presidency Minister Collins Chabane told broadcaster SAfm.
"It is clear to us that we are likely to get more and more people
who would like to get the opportunity to see the (former) president
before he is transferred to the Eastern Cape," Chabane said.
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Some people had been queuing since Thursday.
"We were hungry and thirsty and did not have money for food. The
thought that I must be here to pay respect kept me going," said
Leena Mazubiko, who had traveled from eastern Mpumalanga province.
The week of mourning since Mandela's death on December 5 has seen an
unrivalled outpouring of emotion for the statesman and Nobel peace
laureate, who was honored by a host of world leaders at a memorial
service in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
But the homage to a man who was a global symbol of reconciliation
has not been without controversy.
South African President Jacob Zuma, who is leading the national
mourning ceremonies, was booed by a hostile crowd at Tuesday's
memorial, a worrying sign for the ruling African National Congress
(ANC) six months before elections.
There has also been a storm of outrage and questions over a
sign-language interpreter accused of miming nonsense at the same
memorial. The signer has defended himself, saying he suffered a
schizophrenic episode.
Compared to Tuesday's mass memorial, Sunday's state funeral at Qunu
will be a smaller affair focusing on the family, but dignitaries,
including Britain's Prince Charles and a small group of African and
Caribbean leaders, will also attend.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Shariatmadari will also be at Qunu,
but former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who had been expected at the
funeral, will not attend, a South African foreign ministry spokesman
said.
From the United States, civil rights activist Reverend Jessie
Jackson was on the list to attend the funeral.
The Qunu event will combine military pomp with traditional burial
rituals of Mandela's Xhosa clan.
(Additional reporting and writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo;
editing
by Pascal Fletcher and Louise Ireland)
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