The African National Congress (ANC) expects 10Â 000 people to attend party stalwart Adelaide Tambo’s funeral on Saturday where both former president Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki will address mourners.
Mandela will deliver a message of condolence and Mbeki will give the funeral speech at the Wattville Stadium in Ekurheleni, ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama told a media briefing at the Tambo’s Johannesburg home on Thursday.
Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane will deliver the sermon.
”The funeral service will be a fitting tribute to an outstanding patriot and a heroine of the nation,” Ngonyama said.
The ANC national executive committee, MPs and the diplomatic corps are among those expected to attend the funeral.
The service will start at 9am in Wattville and follows a private valedictory service at the Tambo home in Johannesburg.
Tambo lived in Wattville with her late husband, former ANC president Oliver Tambo, before leaving South Africa to set up the ANC mission in exile.
She will be laid to rest beside her late husband in the Tamboville Cemetery at about 1pm.
ANC spokesperson Steyn Speed said an SMS campaign inviting the public to donate to the Adelaide Tambo Memorial Fund had earlier incorrectly stated that proceeds will go towards funeral costs. Proceeds will go to the Adelaide Tambo School, he told Thursday’s briefing.
A group from the school, for physically challenged pupils, will give a musical tribute at the burial ceremony.
Tambo (77) died last Wednesday. She is survived by three children, Tembi, Dali and Tselane.
Parts of the funeral will be broadcast live on SABC 2 from 11am to 1pm and on Radio 2000. — Sapa