Johannesburg - Access to all official state events surrounding former president Nelson Mandela will be controlled, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said on Saturday.
“The public is advised that all venues - the Mandela house, FNB Stadium, the Union Buildings - will be cordoned off and access will be controlled,” he told reporters in Johannesburg.
“All key areas would be managed by law enforcement.”
Chabane said the national government was in consultation with provinces to ensure that people from around the country attended the memorial service at the FNB Stadium, in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, we can never get an unlimited space (for the memorial),” he said.
“We can't tell people not to come to the memorial service.”
He said the event would be broadcast live.
Chabane urged the public to watch the memorial from “alternative viewing areas”.
He said the event would take place during the day hours of Tuesday, and that the general public would not need accreditation to attend the service.
He said members of the public who wanted to attend the lying in state of Mandela at the Union Buildings, in Pretoria, would have to be shuttled to the site.
Cameras and cellular phones would not be allowed at the Union Buildings amphitheatre, where Mandela's remains would lie in state from Wednesday to Friday.
There would be a public procession through the streets of Pretoria on each day that Mandela's remains were transported from 1 Military Hospital to the Union Buildings.
Chabane said it was not certain “at the moment” whether Mandela's casket would be open or closed.
He said the times and details of the events would be released later. - Sapa
* Buy any Independent Newspapers weekend paper for the special Nelson Mandela supplement.