Over 70 world leaders will set aside their differences and to join the ceremony in honor of the late former President Nelson Mandela later this week.
According to news agency Reuters, almost 100 leaders from around the world will meet in the memorial to honor the South African leader, one of the world's symbols of reconciliation and forgiveness, which will be celebrated during the weekend.
The First National Bank Stadium (FNB) of Johannesburg will be the location of the State's Funeral in honor of Madiba, and thousands of people are working to get everything ready for the ceremony.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, Cuban President Raúl Castro, Iran's Hassan Rouhani, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, the UK's David Cameron and Spain's Mariano Rajoy are some of the leaders that will be present at the ceremony, which is considered to be one of the biggest gathering of world leaders in recent years.
According to Mexican newspaper Excélsior, the UN's Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, Chinese vice President Li Yuanchao, and Madiba's family will say some words for the act planned for Tuesday.
According to the same source, after the ceremony is over tomorrow, the former President's casket will be paraded down the streets of Pretoria, a city in the northern part of the province of Gauteng from December 11 to 13, so South Africans can say goodbye to Madiba.
The FNB Stadium, with a capacity for 95,000 people is located in Soweto, where the fight against Apartheid was born. Likewise, the stadium is where Mandela appeared in public for the last time during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
95-year-old Nelson Mandela lost a long battle on Thursday, December 5 against a pulmonary infection that had kept him hospitalized since last June.
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