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.
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It is an emotional day in Pretoria on the final day of the
lying-in-state. Many thousands of people have flocked to the capital in
the hope of viewing the body of Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings.
Walking up through the terraced gardens, I met a steady stream of people coming down the hill from the amphitheatre where Mr Mandela's body is lying. Some mourners were still tearful.
The queues in the streets surrounding the Union Buildings are longer than ever, in spite of an appeal by the government for people not come to the assembly areas any longer as the park-and-ride facilities are now full.
At one point, part of the crowd tried to break through the fence into the gardens of the Union Buildings, but they were contained by the police. There may be considerable disappointment if people are unable to view the body by the time the lying in state ends later this afternoon.
Analysis
Walking up through the terraced gardens, I met a steady stream of people coming down the hill from the amphitheatre where Mr Mandela's body is lying. Some mourners were still tearful.
The queues in the streets surrounding the Union Buildings are longer than ever, in spite of an appeal by the government for people not come to the assembly areas any longer as the park-and-ride facilities are now full.
At one point, part of the crowd tried to break through the fence into the gardens of the Union Buildings, but they were contained by the police. There may be considerable disappointment if people are unable to view the body by the time the lying in state ends later this afternoon.
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.The government said it could not guarantee everyone already waiting for buses would get in.
The BBC witnessed a sizeable group of people breaking through police lines into the Union Building gardens towards the front of the queue, but they were then contained by officers.
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."
One of Nelson Mandela's grandsons (L) accompanied the coffin as it was carried to lie in state for a third and final day
There have been emotional scenes with reports of some mourners fainting
The police have been comforting some mourners after they have walked past the coffin
Some people who queued on Thursday were turned away
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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.
Long queues of mourners wait catch a bus
on Thursday to view the body of ex-President Nelson Mandela, a scene
reminiscent of that in 1994 when voters queued in Soweto for the first
multiracial elections
This was the scene in Soweto on polling day in April 1994
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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