‘Brazil president to attend Mandela funeral’

According to Dilma Rousseff’s office, the Brazilian president will travel to South Africa to attend the funeral of late leader Nelson Mandela next week.

The office gave out the news on Friday and Rousseff’s government has also decreed seven days of national mourning in honor of Mandela.

The gathering, one of the largest in South Africa since Mandela was inaugurated as its first black president in 1994, is scheduled for December 15 in Pretoria.

The Brazilian head of state is to be joined at the gathering by other world leaders, including US President Barack Obama.

On Thursday, South African President Jacob Zuma announced on the country’s national television that Mandela had passed away. “Our nation has lost its greatest son,” the president stated.

Crowds of mourners gathered outside Mandela’s former house in Soweto throughout the night and in the morning to honor Mandela. People also assembled in front of his current home in Johannesburg’s northern suburb of Houghton.

Mandela passed away after a long battle against lung illness. He had been receiving treatment at home since September.

Mandela, who led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s after nearly three decades in prison, was one of the towering political figures of the 20th century.