South Africans have been warned not to attempt to go to see Nelson Mandela's body in the capital, Pretoria, unless they are already in the queue.
The anti-apartheid leader's body is lying in state at the Union Buildings, where he was sworn in as South Africa's first black president in 1994.
More than 50,000 people were waiting for buses when the warning came.
Mr. Mandela who died on the 5th December at the age of 95 will be buried at his ancestral home in Qunu on Sunday.
His body is to be flown to the rural area of the Eastern Cape where he grew up.
Friday is the last of three days for people to file past the body in Pretoria.
The government said it could not guarantee everyone already waiting for buses would get in.
A sizeable group of people according to report, is breaking through police lines into the Union Building gardens towards the front of the queue.
The response from the public to view Mr. Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba, had been "overwhelming and heart-warming", government spokesman Phumla Williams said in a statement.
Moreover, between 12,000 and 14,000 people had paid their respects to Mr. Mandela on the first day he laid in state "with two people passing every three seconds on day two", she said.
If any additional numbers came on Friday it would make it physically impossible for people to get the opportunity to file past the body, she added.
"We appeal to members of the public who have not had the opportunity to pay their respects to President Mandela at the Union Buildings, to say goodbye in their own personal way."
