South Africa's parliament is to meet to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, as world leaders prepare for Tuesday's memorial service.
The sitting comes at the start of a week of commemorative events before a state funeral on 15 December.Some 70 world leaders are expected to attend either the funeral or a national memorial service on Tuesday.
On Sunday, millions took part in a "day of prayer" to remember the country's first black president.
Monday's parliament sitting will be a special session.
Mr Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and grandson Mandla are both MPs of the African National Congress but it is unclear whether they will attend.
ANC spokesman Moloto Mothapo said: "We hope some members of the Mandela family will be there."
FW de Klerk, South Africa's last white president, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Mandela, has been invited.
World leaders Over the next eight days, a series of events will commemorate the man who steered their country out of white-minority rule.
US President Barack Obama, Francois Hollande of France and UK PM David Cameron will be among those attending Tuesday's memorial at a Soweto stadium.
Thousands of wreaths of flowers have been laid at Mr Mandela's home
Millions took part in a "day of prayer" on Sunday
A light installation depicting Mr Mandela has been projected onto Cape Town's famous Table Mountain
Under Mr Castro's brother Fidel, Cuba was a staunch critic of apartheid, and Mr Mandela had expressed gratitude for his support.
Tuesday's memorial service is likely to be one of the biggest such gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years.
Among those on the list are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German President Joachim Gauck, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Crown Prince Felipe of Spain.
World leaders, global figures and
celebrities will join 95,000 ordinary South Africans at the memorial
service at FNB stadium in Soweto, where Nelson Mandela made his final
major public appearance during the 2010 football World Cup.
The government said 70 leaders had so far confirmed they
would be attending the memorial or funeral: an indication of the special
place Mr Mandela held in people's hearts across the world.Three former US presidents, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, will join President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and India's President Pranab Mukherjee will also be coming.
Leading celebrities in the anti-apartheid movement Peter Gabriel and Bono are also expected to attend as are former international leaders such as Martti Ahtisaari who, along with Mr Mandela, were part of a group known as The Elders, promoting peace and human rights.
Mr Mandela's body will lie in state in Pretoria on the following three days and he will be given a state funeral on Sunday, 15 December.
A smaller number of international dignitaries including the Prince of Wales will attend the burial in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, where the late president grew up.
While Tuesday's memorial service will clearly be a big organisational challenge, the state funeral will be a greater logistical one because of its rural remoteness, BBC correspondent Mike Woodridge reports.
'Light in the darkness' On Sunday South Africa held a "day of prayer" in Mr Mandela's memory.
At Soweto's Regina Mundi Catholic Church, a centre of the anti-apartheid struggle, the priest Sebastian Roussouw said the late leader had been "a light in the darkness".
President Zuma paid tribute to Nelson Mandela: "He believed in caring and he cared for our nation"
Mourners have gathered every day outside Mr Mandela's house in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton since Mr Mandela died at home at the age of 95, after several months of ill health.
Well wishers have lit candles there and laid thousands of wreaths of flowers and at his old home in Soweto.
The government has given further details of the state funeral arrangements for this week:
- Tuesday, 10 December is the day for South Africa's official memorial service at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, and will be addressed by President Zuma with tributes from other heads of state
- The memorial service will be shown on big screens at three "overflow" stadiums - Orlando, Dobsonville and Rand
- Between 11-13 December, "selected international visitors and guests" will be able to view Mr Mandela's remains at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
- The public will be able to view the body from 12:00 to 17:30 on Wednesday and from 08:00 to 17:30 on Thursday and Friday
- Each morning his body will be taken from the mortuary to the city hall through the streets of Pretoria. Members of the public have been encouraged to line the route and form a "guard of honour".
- His body will be transported on Saturday, 14 December, from Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria to the Eastern Cape, with a procession from the airport at Mthatha to his home village of Qunu where a traditional ceremony will be held.
- A national day of reconciliation will take place on 16 December when a statue of Mr Mandela will be unveiled at the Union Buildings in Pretoria
- Some 90 screens will be set up across the country to show all planned national events
A government statement recalled the former president's own thoughts when asked how he wished to be remembered.
"It would be very egotistical of me to say how I would like to be remembered," Mr Mandela said.
"I'd leave that entirely to South Africans. I would just like a simple stone on which is written, 'Mandela'."
The former South African leader spent 27 years in jail before becoming the country's first black president in 1994.
He served a single term before stepping down in 1999.
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Link to source: http://www.bbc.co.uk
