The US President meets family of South Africa's ailing former leader
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| Barack Obama |
The condition of the former South African leader Nelson Mandela
appeared to take a turn for the better yesterday, as President Jacob
Zuma spoke of his "hope [that] very soon he will be out of hospital".
Such a remark, concerning a 94-year-old man lately rumoured to be on
life-support, though responding to touch, struck a sudden upbeat note
that caught many observers by surprise. The only reliable, if vague,
appraisal of Mr Mandela's health is that, three weeks after being
admitted to hospital with a lung infection, he remains "critical, but
stable", with any other reports being unconfirmed.
And so the hovering media must continue their waiting, a
ghoulish spectacle on one level, but an understandable one. Mr Mandela
may have officially led only the country of his birth, but he was, in
moral authority, as close to a president of the world as we are ever
likely to see. Millions are poised to pay homage, if only on social
media.
Certainly President Barack Obama showed he was
aware of the sensitivities to be observed. He declined to bring the
entourage and media that always accompany him clattering into the
hospital, and instead met privately with two of Mr Mandela's daughters
and several grandchildren in Johannesburg for half an hour yesterday
afternoon.
Since starting his Africa tour in Senegal on Wednesday,
President Obama has paid fulsome tribute to the man globally admired as a
symbol both of struggle against injustice and for racial
reconciliation. Yesterday, he encouraged leaders in Africa and around
the world to follow Mr Mandela's example of country before self.
Speaking at a news conference with President Zuma in the midst of a
week-long tour that will also include a stop in Tanzania, Mr Obama said:
"We as leaders occupy these spaces temporarily and we don't get so
deluded that we think the fate of our country doesn't depend on how long
we stay in office."
The US President referred to Mr
Mandela by his clan name as he praised South Africa's historic
transition from white racist rule to a shining beacon for the world. He
said: "The struggle here against apartheid for freedom, Madiba's moral
courage, this country's historic transition to a free and democratic
nation has been a personal inspiration to me; it has been an inspiration
to the world. The outpouring of love that we've seen in recent days
shows that the triumph of Nelson Mandela and this nation speaks to
something very deep in the human spirit, the yearning for justice and
dignity that transcends boundaries of race and class and faith and
country. That's what Nelson Mandela represents, that's what South Africa
at its best represents to the world, and that's what brings me back
here."
Mr Obama also paid tribute to South Africa's fight
against apartheid by visiting the Soweto area for a town-hall meeting
with students at the University of Johannesburg. At least 176 young
people were killed in Soweto township 27 years ago this month during a
youth protest against the apartheid regime's ban against teaching local
Bantu languages. The Soweto Uprising catalysed international support
against apartheid.
Mr Obama has called Nelson Mandela a "personal hero". The President will
wrap up his South Africa stay today, when he plans to give a sweeping
speech on US-Africa policy at the University of Cape Town and take his
family to Robben Island to tour the prison where Mr Mandela spent 18 of
his 27 years behind bars. Mr Obama has been before, but said he wishes
to bring his daughters back to learn its lessons.
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