Security agents face Herculean task as thousands of visitors to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral

By CYRUS OMBATI and SABC

Security apparatus in South Africa are likely to face a logistical nightmare given the number of visitors expected to attend anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

Going by reports, dozens of world leaders are likely to attend the event, which will also prove a nightmare for the South African Foreign Affairs Ministry.

This is because protocol officers face an enormous challenge to ensure visiting dignitaries are housed in facilities and hotels that meet international standards.

The protocol officers will further have to work on a strategy that “enemy” state leaders do not share the same facilities and sitting arrangements during the requiem mass.

For instance, they have to ensure Israeli and Iran or China and Taiwan leaders do not find themselves closer.

Civil aviation officials have also to ensure the visitors arrive safely while traffic police have to move them to their rooms and the site of the funeral.

The local military has been conducting a crowd control drill as part of efforts to address the expected population when the first black South African president will be laid to rest.

Preparations for the funeral are expected to bring the country of 53 million people to a virtual standstill.

The sheer number of dignitaries, including numerous heads of state, is sure to spell a logistical nightmare for the South African government, which will be tasked with providing airtight security during the solemn event.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is among world leaders who are likely to join others for the service that will be held at Johannesburg Stadium on Tuesday, December 10.

Three former American presidents will attend memorial services for Mr Mandela this week, alongside an estimated 140 heads of state.

The White House said President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama would be joined on Air Force One Tuesday by former President George Bush and his wife Laura.

The Obamas will attend Tuesday’s memorial service, along with three other former US presidents, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

A Bush spokesman said the couple ‘gratefully accepted’ the invitation from the Obamas.

Bill Clinton is also travelling to South Africa, along with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but it was unclear whether they would also fly on Air Force One.

President Obama also invited 89-year-old George Bush senior to travel with him to South Africa, but a spokesman for the former President said he would not be able to make the trip.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to travel to Johannesburg, accompanied by his wife Laureen and a Canadian delegation.

Former Prime ministers Jean Chretien, Kim Campbell and Brian Mulroney have said they will join Harper on the trip.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will attend the funeral. Chinese President Xi Jinping and UK Prime Minister David Cameron are also expected to be present.

Desmond Tutu, a long-time friend of Mandela and former archbishop of Cape Town is expected to hold the service and religious leaders such as Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama are also expected to attend the services.

A host of celebrities who had personal ties to the great leader are expected to travel to South Africa.

Naomi Campbell, who said Mr Mandela was her ‘honorary grandfather’, U2’s Bono, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates, who has campaigned for Aids awareness in Africa, are likely to attend the memorials.

A funeral service will take place at Qunu — where Mandela grew up and later retired to — on Sunday, December 15.

One government minister has predicted the 95,000-seat stadium being used for the event will be overwhelmed, and promised that overflow areas would be set up.

Landing only

The Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape will only be used for the landing of Heads of State attending Mandela’s funeral, the province said yesterday.

“VVIPs attending the funeral will be driven by luxury coaches to Qunu to avoid stampede in the N2,” provincial premier Noxolo Kiviet said in a statement.

VIPs and members of the public could use Port Elizabeth and East London airports as alternatives, she said.

Security was tightened outside Mandela’s Qunu home on Saturday, with a heavy military presence.

At least 10 armoured vehicles were parked outside, and soldiers with firearms marched on the N2, past Mandela’s house, to their assembly point.

The N2, which is the main road to and from Qunu, has been closed for a few kilometres before and after Mandela’s house.

Police on horseback patrolled the streets in the village.

The media contingency outside the house is also growing.