Nelson Mandela funeral: mourners to line Pretoria streets On December 9, both houses of parliament will be recalled from recess for a special joint sitting in honour of Mandela's legacy. The following day a memorial service will be held at a 90,000-plus capacity stadium in Soweto. The "Soccer City" stadium hosted the 2010 World Cup final where Mandela made his last major public appearance. Mandela will be buried on December 15 in Qunu, a town in the Eastern Cape, the hilly rural area where he grew up. South Africa is readying itself for the arrival of a flood of world leaders for the funeral and memorial services for former president Nelson Mandela as thousands of mourners continue to flock to sites around the country to pay homage to the freedom struggle icon. Obama, America's first black president, will travel to South Africa next week, the White House said, joining a raft of world leaders for a huge December 10 memorial service. Obama and his wife Michelle will travel to South Africa together with former first couple George W. and Laura Bush. Ex-president Bill Clinton, who was in office when Mandela took power to become South Africa's first black president, also said that he would be making the trip with his family. White House press secretary Jay Carney said the Obamas would "participate in memorial events" without giving details. In a tribute shortly after the revered statesman's death was made public, Obama mourned Mandela as a "profoundly good" man who "took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice." Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will also be among those flying in next week, her office said. Memorial events begin tomorrow with South Africans invited to visit churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship, to pay their respects.