It’s the last stand for Ulster and their South African captain Johann Muller as they attempt to reach the Rabo-Direct Pro12 play-offs when Leinster travel up the road to help officially open the new Ravenhill facilities.

Ulster’s South African inspiration Johann Muller has some unfinished business before he heads back to Mossil Bay on the Eastern Cape in June to work on the family farm.

Leicester 19 Ulster 22

A continuing feud in the Mandela family, which has made headlines in the past year, has taken another turn with a report that Mandla Mandela was locked out of the family’s homestead by relatives four days before his grandfather, Nelson Mandela, was buried there.

Big guns have fired a salute in the rural village where Nelson Mandela grew up and military servicemen marched stiffly behind his casket on a winding dirt road as South Africa said goodbye for the last time to the man who reconciled the country in its most vulnerable period.

Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu will join scores of dignitaries from around the world tomorrow for the funeral of Nelson Mandela.

The remains of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela have been transferred to Waterkloof air base for a farewell from the African National Congress (ANC).

Tens of thousands of mourners, some breaking through police barriers, flocked to South Africa’s central government buildings yesterday to say a personal goodbye Nelson Mandela on the final day of his lying in state.

South Africans were praised for the “dignified” way in which they have commemorated the death of Nelson Mandela as the memorial service for the anti-apartheid hero got under way.

More than 90 world leaders are in South Africa for commemoration ceremonies in honour of Nelson Mandela, the man who went from prisoner to president armed with nothing more than his conscience, his courage, and a steely resolve to achieve freedom for his people.

With hymns and eulogies, South Africans of all colours and creeds remembered Nelson Mandela in a day of prayers yesterday, holding him up as a symbol of freedom, forgiveness, and hope for the nation and the world.

Some 60 heads of state or government will take part in the memorial service or state funeral of Nelson Mandela next week.

From political posters to bottles of wine and kitchen aprons, the face and name of Nelson Mandela are a potent commercial and political brand in South Africa. Little wonder it’s so sought after — and the source of occasional squabbles.

South Africa is preparing for the arrival of a flood of world leaders for the funeral and memorial services for former president Nelson Mandela.

South Africans united in mourning for Nelson Mandela yesterday, but while some celebrated his remarkable life with dance and song, others fretted that the anti-apartheid hero’s death would make the nation vulnerable again to racial and social tensions.

A South African reimagining of the play Miss Julie has been wowing audiences around the world. Richard Fitzpatrick talks to the writer ahead of its Irish premiere.

Doctors treating Nelson Mandela said he was in a “permanent vegetative state” and advised his family to turn off his life support machine, according to court documents.

Members of Nelson Mandela’s family and tribal elders gathered today at the former president’s rural hometown in eastern South Africa, as concern grew for the 94-year-old leader who spent a third day in critical condition in a hospita.

South Africa’s president has urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honour the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader.

Ulster skipper Johann Muller will extend his stay at Ravenhill for another season after lengthy negotiations and he will be making his long-awaited comeback from injury this Friday when the RaboDirect Pro12 table-toppers take on the Ospreys at Ravenhill.

Doctors treating former South African leader Nelson Mandela believe the 94-year-old should remain in Johannesburg for now to be close to medical facilities.

Former South Africa president Nelson Mandela is "doing very, very well" while undergoing unspecified medical tests at a military hospital, the nation's defence minister has said.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela spent a second day in a Pretoria military hospital yesterday for medical tests and the government said the anti-apartheid leader’s condition was comfortable.

South Africans prayed today for the health of former president Nelson Mandela and anxiously awaited further word about the anti-apartheid leader after he was admitted to a military hospital.

Nelson Mandela was discharged from a South African hospital after a minor diagnostic procedure showed nothing “seriously wrong” with the 93-year- old anti-apartheid icon.

A 44-YEAR-OLD surfer suffered serious injuries to his thigh and buttocks in Australia’s second shark attack this month.

A 50-YEAR-OLD South African man thought to be dead woke up in a chilly morgue on Sunday and shouted to be let out, scaring off two attendants who thought he was a ghost, local media reported.

A 50-year-old man gave two morgue attendants the fright of their lives when he woke up after 24 hours on a slab and demanded to be taken out of the “cold place”.

A British newlywed accused of hiring a hitman to kill his bride on their South African honeymoon today denied he was involved in another murder three years earlier.

THERE’S been higher profile Irish exports to South Africa, but not many have made as deep an impression as Cork man Barry O’Mahony has in his 16 years in this country.

Delegates of South Africa’s governing African National Congress cast their votes today for the next party president after a bitter contest.

Connacht prop Brett Wilkinson has signed a two-year extension to his contract, which will keep him at the Sportsground at least until the summer of 2009.

A bus packed with people heading home for the Christmas holiday plunged into a river in South Africa’s central Free State province today, killing 20 people and injuring 77, police said.

Nelson Mandela’s grandson followed the former president’s example today by telling thousands of mourners at his father’s funeral that his mother had also died of Aids a year earlier.

A grief-stricken former President Nelson Mandela attended a memorial service for his son Makgatho, whose death of Aids complications last week underscored the silence still shrouding a disease that kills more than 600 a day in South Africa.

A grief-stricken former President Nelson Mandela attended a memorial service today for his son Makgatho, whose death of Aids complications last week underscored the silence still shrouding a disease that kills more than 600 a day in South Africa.

Eight school children have been killed and at least 50 injured and taken to hospitals in South Africa after a bus overturned when the driver lost control in a curve, the Eastern Cape provincial transport department said today.

TODAY South Africans will go to the polls for the country's third elections under democratic rule.

The bizarre life story of the man charged with assaulting referee David McHugh continues to capture the headlines in South Africa, with it being reported that whilst on the run from a troubled business, he became a squid fisherman under an assumed name.

Some areas in South Africa were declared disaster zones today after heavy rain and snow caused power failures, destroyed homes and trapped commuters, killing at least 22 people.

South African police say a teacher shot dead his girlfriend and a second colleague before making a botched suicide attempt.