Johhanesburg: Workers busily constructed a stage on Monday at the Soweto soccer stadium where world leaders will eulogize Nelson Mandela before tens of thousands of mourners, as police promised tight security.
Nearly 100 heads of state are expected to assemble at the 95,000-capacity FNB Stadium for the memorial Tuesday to the anti-apartheid icon.
Mandela made his last public appearance at the same stadium for the closing ceremony of the 2010 World Cup, when the venue was called Soccer City.
“Thousands” of officers will direct traffic, protect mourners and help the bodyguards of visiting dignitaries, Lt. Gen. Solomon Makgale, a spokesman for the South African Police Service, said Monday.
“We will be on hand to make sure people are able to grieve in a safe environment,” Makgale told The Associated Press.
Makgale said a joint taskforce of police, diplomats and intelligence service personnel already have been making plans and talking to the foreign delegations who plan to attend the ceremony.
Less than 20 hours before the event, ground crews cut the grass in front of the stadium. Workers inside welded scaffolding for a stage and installed bulletproof glass to protect foreign leaders, including United States President Barack Obama.
Others expected to attend are British Prime Minister David Cameron, Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Foreign dignitaries began arriving Sunday.
“Whether we have 10 heads of state coming or 70 or 100, we do have the capacity and plans in place to facilitate their movement,” Makgale said.
Though security remains a concern, an AP reporter walked unsearched into the stadium Monday by showing only a national press card issued in Europe.
