Four years old Bokamoso warms her hands over candles placed between flowers outside of the house of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg. Photo / AP
The BBC has been forced to defend its coverage of the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela after more than 1,300 viewers complained that it was excessive.
As of today the BBC had received 1,350 complaints from viewers, including some who grumbled about the comedy programme 'Mrs Brown's
Boys' being interrupted. Programme chiefs broke into a repeat of the BBC1 sitcom to break the news.
A number of the complainants said that too much time was spent reflecting on the death of Mr Mandela and not enough on the record storm surge that hit Britain on the same night.
BBC News director, James Harding, defended the corporation's coverage saying Mr Mandela was a man of "singular significance" and the "most significant statesman of the last 100 years".
A BBC spokeswoman said today: "Nelson Mandela was a hugely significant world leader with an enormous political and cultural influence across the world. His death is of considerable interest to our audiences at home and across the globe.
