JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's second biggest grocer Pick n Pay will donate all its takings countrywide on Sunday to charity, one of several gestures of respect from local businesses on the day of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela's funeral.
Nobel peace laureate Mandela's death last Thursday has triggered an outpouring of sorrow, combined with celebration and thanksgiving for his illustrious life among his 53 million countrymen and millions more around the world.
"I have decided that the most positive and fitting contribution that Pick n Pay can make is to donate all profits that we make from sales in our stores on Sunday to charitable causes," Chief Executive Richard Brasher said in a statement.
Businesses including banks, retailers and gymnasiums have said they will keep their doors shut on Sunday, when Mandela is buried at his ancestral home in Qunu, 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg.
Thousands of mourners queued in the capital Pretoria on Thursday to view his body and pay their final respects to the revered former president who spent 27 years in apartheid jails.
Mandela's body will lie in state for a third day on Friday before being flown to the Eastern Cape province for the funeral on Sunday.
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa)