Skip to main content

World leaders and global celebrities are descending on South Africa for the funeral, but the tight controls on access mean many ordinary Souh Africans will have to mark Madiba's passage in their own way

Open this photo in gallery:

A picture of the late President Nelson Mandela is surrounded of flowers, candles and condolence messages in Johannesburg, Dec. 8, 2013.Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press

1 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

Young members of the choir attend a morning mass in memory of Nelson Mandela at the Regina Mundi church, which became one of the focal points of the anti-apartheid struggle, in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013. South Africans flocked to houses of worship Sunday for a national day of prayer and reflection to honor Nelson Mandela, starting planned events that will culminate in what is expected to be one of the biggest funerals in modern times.Ben Curtis/The Associated Press

2 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

Christian worshippers gather during a prayer on a hill overlooking Johannesburg.Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press

3 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

A woman stands next to a photograph of Nelson Mandela at the Nelson Mandela Center Of Memory in Johannesburg, December 8, 2013.RONEN ZVULUN/Reuters

4 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

A worshiper at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Alexandra, a Johannesburg township, Dec. 8, 2013. South Africans on Sunday began a week of commemorations following former South African President Nelson Mandela's death with what officials called a day of prayer and reflection, gathering in places of worship to offer spiritual homage to the man who embodied the battle against apartheid.TYLER HICKS/The New York Times

5 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

A combination of nine pictures shows messages and little gifts people laid outside the house where Nelson Mandela died in Johannesburg, December 8, 2013. South African anti-apartheid hero Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on December 5 after a prolonged lung infection.KAI PFAFFENBACH/Reuters

6 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

A man prays on a hilltop in Yeoville, overlooking Johannesburg, Dec. 8, 2013.JOAO SILVA/The New York Times

7 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela, at a prayer service for Mandela at Bryanston Methodist Church, inJOAO SILVA/The New York Times

8 of 9
Open this photo in gallery:

A worshiper at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Alexandra, a Johannesburg township, Dec. 8, 2013.TYLER HICKS/The New York Times

9 of 9

Interact with The Globe