South Africa has been urged to make lots of noise at exactly three minutes and seven seconds before 10am this morning to mark a year since Nelson Mandela died.
The government and the Nelson Mandela Foundation called on places of worship, factories, schools and motorists to ring their bells, sound sirens, hoot and use loud-hailers to alert the nation ahead of the three-minute period of silence at the top of the hour.
The silence will be broken by the singing of the national anthem at exactly 10.03am.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the official commemorative event for the former president and rights champion at Freedom Park in Pretoria today. The events will kick off with a wreath-laying ceremony at the giant bronze statue of Mandela at the Union Buildings at 8am.
Ramaphosa's spokesman, Ronnie Mamoepa, said struggle veterans who fought alongside Madiba would lay wreaths. The ceremony will be open to the public, who may lay wreaths throughout the day.
Supermarket group Spar has pledged profits of December 15 - the day Madiba was laid to rest last year - to the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Trust.
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