|
| U.S. President Barack Obama pauses during a town hall meeting with young African leaders at the University of Johannesburg Soweto on Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The president is in South Africa, embarking on the second leg of his three-country African journey. The visit comes at a poignant time, with former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela ailing in a Johannesburg hospital. |
JOHANNESBURG
(AP) -- Paying tribute to his personal hero, President Barack Obama met
privately Saturday with Nelson Mandela's family as the world anxiously
awaited news on the condition of the ailing 94-year-old anti-apartheid
leader.
Obama, who has spoken movingly about
Mandela throughout his trip to Africa, praised the former South African
president's "moral courage" during remarks from the grand Union
Buildings where Mandela was inaugurated as his nation's first black
president.
The U.S. president also called on
the continent's leaders, including in neighboring Zimbabwe, to take
stock of Mandela's willingness to put country before self and step down
after one term despite his immense popularity.
"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," Obama said during a news conference with South African
President Jacob Zuma.
Obama's stop in South
Africa marked the midway point of a weeklong trip to Africa, his most
significant engagement with the continent since taking office in 2009.
His
lack of personal attention on the region has frustrated some Africans
who had high expectations for the first black American president and son
of a Kenyan man.
Even with Mandela's health
casting a shadow over his visit, Obama tried to keep focus on an agenda
that includes deeper U.S. economic ties with Africa. The president
dismissed suggestions that he was only investing personal capital on
Africa's economy now as a response to the increased focus on the
continent by China, India, Brazil and others.
"I want everybody playing in Africa," he said. "The more, the merrier."
But
the president pointedly called on Africans to make sure that countries
seeking an economic foothold on the continent are making a "good deal
for Africa."
"If somebody says they want to
come build something here, are they hiring African workers?" Obama said.
"If somebody says that they want to help you develop your natural
resources, how much of the money is staying in Africa? If they say that
they're very interested in a certain industry, is the manufacturing and
value-added done in Africa? "
The president did not specifically single out China, but some African leaders have criticized Beijing for such behaviors.
Obama's
focus on trade and business appeared to be well received in Africa,
home to six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies. The majority of
the questions he received from the South African press and later at a
town hall meeting with young African leaders focused on U.S. economic
interests in the region.
Between his two
events, Obama spent about 30 minutes meeting privately with two of
Mandela's daughters and several of his grandchildren at the former
leader's foundation offices in Johannesburg. He also spoke by phone with
Mandela's wife, Graça Machel, who remained by her husband's side at the
Pretoria hospital where he has battled a lung infection for three
weeks.
In a statement following the call, Machel said she drew strength from the Obama and his "touch of personal warmth."
Obama,
who has met Mandela in person only once before, did not visit the
former leader in the hospital out of respect for his family's wishes,
the White House said. Ahead of his arrival in South Africa, the
president had told reporters that he did not need "a photo-op" and
didn't want to be obtrusive.
Obama ascent to
the White House has drawn inevitable comparisons to Mandela. Both are
their nations' first black presidents, symbols of racial barrier
breaking and winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zuma
said Obama and Mandela "both carry the dreams of millions of people in
Africa and in the diaspora who were previously oppressed." Zuma said
Mandela's condition remained the same as it had in recent days -
critical yet stable - though he expressed hope that Mandela soon would
leave the hospital.
Obama, Zuma and other dignitaries held a moment of silence for Mandela during a dinner Saturday night.
Also
Saturday, Obama held a town hall with young people in Soweto, an area
of Johannesburg that was a center of the youth-driven movement to fight
against South Africa's apartheid government. At least 176 young people
were killed there 27 years ago this month during a youth protest against
the white government's ban against teaching local Bantu languages. The
Soweto Uprising catalyzed international support against apartheid, and
June is now recognized as Youth Month in South Africa.
Outside
the event, protesters under police watch demonstrated outside the
university against Obama's record on surveillance and foreign policy.
Protesters from a range of trade unions and civil society groups
chanted, "Away with intelligence, away," holding posters depicting Obama
with an Adolf Hitler moustache.
In Africa,
where some governments struggle with corruption, Obama has made it a
priority to promote civic activism among young people and invest in
their development. He hosted young leaders from more than 40 African
countries at the White House in 2010 and announced plans during the
event to expand the program.
About 600 youth
leaders from South Africa attended the town hall, with other young
people participating via video conference from Uganda, Nigeria and
Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland.
Kenya's
current political environment made it impossible for Obama to visit the
country where many of his relatives live. The International Criminal
Court is prosecuting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for crimes against
humanity, including murder, deportation, rape, persecution and inhumane
acts allegedly committed by his supporters in the aftermath of Kenya's
2007 elections.
"The timing was not right for
me as the president of the United States to be visiting Kenya when those
issues are still being worked on, and hopefully at some point
resolved," said Obama, though he added that he planned to make many more
trips to the East African nation.
The
president planned to stop in Cape Town on Sunday and visit Robben
Island, the prison where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in jail. Obama
will close his trip with a visit to Tanzania.
