South Africa’s first black President will be buried on December 15 in his home village, Qunu.

Mourners in South Africa are today, December 13, 2013, queuing up to view the body of ex-President Nelson Mandela for the third and final day, the BBC said yesterday. Thousands of people have been filing past the body that has been laid in state at the Union Buildings Presidential Palace in Pretoria before burial on Sunday, December 15, 2013 in Mandela’s home village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape Province.

Several people fainted in the stifling heat on Wednesday as they waited for their turn to file past Mandela's casket after family members, foreign dignitaries and celebrities paid their respects. By afternoon, the summer heat and lack of access to water and toilets caused several people to pass out and tempers to flare up as mourners waited in line for their last chance to see the man regarded as the father of democratic South Africa.

Nelson Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba, died on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at the age of 95. He became South Africa’s first black President in 1994 after the end of the Apartheid system of government under which he spent 27 years in prison. His body is to be flown by the military tomorrow to the Eastern Cape from the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria. A military guard of honour will welcome the arrival, and the coffin will then be placed on a gun carriage and transported to a hearse. The body will then be taken to Qunu where the Thembu community will conduct a traditional ceremony.

A national day of reconciliation will take place on Monday, December 16 when a statue of Mandela will be unveiled at the Union Buildings. Big screens have been set up across South Africa to show the planned national events. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Qunu ahead of the funeral with the area declared a no-fly zone since yesterday, the New York Daily News reported.

Roads have been cordoned off and soldiers are standing guard outside the Mandela compound where a huge dome has been erected for the obsequies. There will be a human chain of 10,000 grieving South Africans lining the road when Nelson Mandela finally comes home tomorrow. They will serve as guard of honour as the hearse carrying Mandela’s body heads down Route 61 into Qunu, the remote village where the anti-Apartheid icon grew up, Mthatha Mayor, Nomakhosazana Meth, said.