President Barack Obama praised Nelson Mandela's "moral courage" and called him an inspiration to the world as he prepares to meet with the ailing anti-apartheid leader's family later today in Johannesburg.
"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," Obama, using Mandela's clan name, said in Pretoria at a press conference alongside South African president Jacob Zuma. "It has been an inspiration to the world."
Obama, who has called Mandela a personal hero, is in South Africa for the second-leg of a trip to promote trade and investment across the African continent by underscoring the importance of democratic values to economic growth. Mandela's condition has weighed on the entire trip, yet it has been most felt in the South African icon's home country with Obama invoking his legacy as a symbol of what's possible.
Zuma said he hopes Mandela will be released from the hospital soon, though his stable, yet critical condition hasn't changed. Acknowledging the profound timing of Obama's trip, Zuma said that the first black presidents of the U.S. and South Africa are "bound by history."
"Thus you both carry the dreams of millions of people in Africa and in the diaspora who were previously oppressed," Zuma said.
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will meet privately with Mandela's family in Johannesburg instead of going to see the 94-year-old at the Pretoria hospital where he's been since June 8 battling a lung infection, the White House said. Obama had just one face-to-face meeting with Mandela in 2005.
Economic Opportunities
"Out of deference to Nelson Mandela's peace and comfort and the family's wishes, they will not be visiting the hospital," the White House said.
Obama is using stops in three African democracies -- Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania -- to highlight progress being made on the continent and point to the economic opportunities that can come as a result.
Obama said Mandela's values should serve a model for South Africa as well as countries across Africa as they seek U.S. investment opportunities and entry into international organizations.
"Nelson Mandela showed what is possible and the people of South Africa have shown what's possible" when rule of law and human rights are respected, Obama said.
South Africa is the 36th largest goods trading partner for the U.S. with a total of $16.8 billion in 2011. Exports totaled $7.3 billion, up 29 percent from year before, and imports were $9.5 billion.
Visit Landmarks
Obama is forging ahead with the trip even with the visit's potentially uncomfortable timing.
Obama will have to walk a "diplomatic tightrope" with his events in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town, said Richard Downie, deputy director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"The U.S.-South Africa relationship is prickly at the best of times," he said. "His visit is likely to be a distraction for South Africans and one poorly chosen word or misstep runs the risk of causing grave offense to his hosts."
Traveling with his family, Obama will visit landmarks and meet with representatives of Mandela's life and struggles. Later today he will make remarks and answer questions from young Africans at the University of Johannesburg Soweto. Tomorrow he goes to Cape Town for a scheduled visit to Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison for opposing white-minority rule.
From there, Obama has a planned visit to a community center that focuses on health and HIV/AIDS prevention with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who greeted Mandela the day he was released from prison in 1990.
"The Mandela news event is both domestically and internationally a much bigger story than Obama's trip to Africa," said Daryl Glaser, a politics professor at the University of Witwatersrand, said in an interview. "I don't think Africa looms as large in people's imagination around the world, including Americans, as Mandela the person does."
To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net
