Pretoria - Chad President Idriss Déby was the one of the Heads of State to touch down at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria on Monday, ahead of Tuesday's Memorial Service.
Déby touched down in Pretoria in the middle of the pouring rain just before 4:30pm. He was welcomed by International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim.
Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is also expected to land soon.
Deby and Mbasogo will join some 70 other Heads of State and Government, about ten former presidents, global figures and celebrities and over 90 000 ordinary South Africans at the Memorial Service at FNB stadium in Soweto, where they will pay their last respects to former President Nelson Mandela.
Among those who will touch down here today are delegations from China, Kenya, Canada, Benin and Senegal.
Meanwhile, Air Force One has just departed Washington DC for South African shores, carrying US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.
Joining the Obamas on Air Force One are former US President George W. Bush, his wife Laura Bush, as well as former US President Bill Clinton, along with his wife, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Former US President Jimmy Carter and his wife are also expected to arrive in South Africa on Tuesday morning.
The stadium is where Mandela made his final major public appearance during the 2010 football World Cup.
The event is likely to be one of the biggest such gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years. - SAnews.gov.za
