A special provincial official funeral has been approved for former Free State premier Winkie Direko, the presidency announced on Wednesday.
Direko, 82, died of a stroke on Friday.
Presidency spokesman Harold Maloka said President Jacob Zuma decided, at the request of the Free State government, to declare a special provincial official funeral for Direko.
This kind of funeral is reserved for distinguished individuals as decided by the president upon a request from the province concerned.
Maloka said Zuma decided to declare the funeral because Direko, who served as a premier of the Free State between 1999 and 2004, had also distinguished herself as a community leader for many years.
The president had instructed that the national flag should fly at half-mast in the Free State on the day of the funeral. A memorial service for Direko would be held at the Mangaung Indoor Sport Centre on Thursday at 2pm.
The funeral would be held at St Patrick’s Church on Saturday at 9am, and she would be buried in the Heroes Acre at the Phahameng cemetery.
Direko was born in 1929 in Botshabelo, Bloemfontein. She was also a member of the National Council of Provinces from 1994 to 1999.
She was the Free State's third premier. - Sapa