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Obama Meets With Mandela Family as Vigil Continues Obama Meets With Mandela Family as Vigil Continues
(35 minutes later)
JOHANNESBURG — President Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama, met privately on Saturday with the family of Nelson Mandela, the 94-year-old former president of South Africa, who remains in critical condition at a hospital in the capital, Pretoria. JOHANNESBURG — President Obama decided against a personal visit with Nelson Mandela, the ailing 94-year-old former president of South Africa, delivering his respects in a private meeting Saturday with Mandela’s family even as South Africans gathered at the former president’s home to express their emotional bond him.
The meeting lasted for about a half-hour, enough time for a small crowd to gather outside in time for the president’s departure, The Associated Press reported. The presidential limousine slipped past a gate at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory Saturday afternoon, leaving the media behind as Mr. Obama met for about 25 minutes with Mr. Mandela’s relatives before heading to a town-hall meeting with students in Soweto. In statement after the meeting, Mr. Obama said he had also spoken by phone with Graça Machel, Mr. Mandela’s wife, who remained by his bedside.
“Our thoughts and those of Americans and people all around the world are with Nelson Mandela and his family and all of South Africans,” Mr. Obama told reporters at a news conference earlier with Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa. “I expressed my hope that Madiba draws peace and comfort from the time that he is spending with loved ones,” Mr. Obama said. “I also reaffirmed the profound impact that his legacy has had in building a free South Africa, and in inspiring people around the world — including me. That’s a legacy that we must all honor in our own lives.”
Mr. Obama, however, will not meet with Mr. Mandela, the White House reported, in accordance with the family’s wishes. The Centre of Memory will be the institution that seeks to keep Mr. Mandela’s legacy alive after he dies. The sleek glass-and-steel building lies just beside a roaring freeway in the upscale Houghton section of Johannesburg, not far from the home where Mandela lived after his release from 27-years imprisonment.
A steady stream of mostly white well-wishers gathered outside that home Saturday, leaving flowers or inscriptions on small colored rocks clustered under trees outside the closed gates. One note, left under a tree and address to “Madiba,” Mr. Mandela’s clan name, said: “Madiba, We drove across town without having to get permission. We live where we can, not where we are told to. All because of you and other heroes. Thank you, Lucien, Joelene, Ava and Luke.”
Mrs. Machel, making a rare public appearance since Mr. Mandela’s latest bout of illness, emerged from her vehicle to thank a small group clustered outside the gate.
“I just wanted to say thank you,” she said, flanked by security guards, before getting back into her car and driving off. “All these messages you are compiling, it means so much to us. Every day he is getting well. So you should know that the message is getting across. Thank you so much.”
White House officials said the decision not to bring the American president and his entourage to Mr. Mandela’s bedside at a hospital in Pretoria was made “out of deference to Nelson Mandela’s peace and comfort and the family’s wishes.” The White House had originally hoped to spotlight the two men together, offering a generational tableau of the first black leaders in both countries. Mr. Obama said as he flew to South Africa on Friday that he does not need “a photo-op” while he is in the country.
Mr. Mandela has been ill since being admitted to the hospital three weeks ago for a chronic lung infection. His condition turned critical, according to South African officials, just as Mr. Obama headed toward the African continent for a weeklong trip.Mr. Mandela has been ill since being admitted to the hospital three weeks ago for a chronic lung infection. His condition turned critical, according to South African officials, just as Mr. Obama headed toward the African continent for a weeklong trip.
The White House had originally hoped to spotlight the two men together, offering a generational tableau of the first black leaders in both countries. Mr. Obama said as he flew to South Africa on Friday that he did not need “a photo-op” while he is in the country.The White House had originally hoped to spotlight the two men together, offering a generational tableau of the first black leaders in both countries. Mr. Obama said as he flew to South Africa on Friday that he did not need “a photo-op” while he is in the country.
Saturday’s meeting with the family took place at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, which is part of Mr. Mandela’s foundation. The White House did not say which Mandela family members would attend. Mr. Obama still plans to salute Mr. Mandela’s life with a visit on Sunday to Robben Island, the prison where the iconic South African leader spent 18 years in a tiny cell.
Mr. Obama still plans to salute Mr. Mandela’s life with a visit on Sunday to Robben Island, the prison where Mr. Mandela spent 18 years in a tiny cell. White House officials said Friday night that there was no change in the schedule, though Mr. Obama promised to “gauge the situation” based on Mr. Mandela’s condition and his family’s wishes. Earlier, at a news conference with Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, Mr. Obama encouraged world leaders to follow Mr. Mandela’s example of putting country ahead of self. “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,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Obama praised South Africa’s struggle for freedom and Mr. Mandela’s “moral courage,” which he said has been an “inspiration for the world.” He noted that he visited Robben Island several years ago as a senator. Mr. Obama also praised South Africa’s struggle for freedom and Mr. Mandela’s “moral courage,” which he said has been an “inspiration for the world.” He noted that he had visited Robben Island, where Mr. Mandela was imprisoned, several years ago as a senator. He said he looked forward to taking his two daughters to the tiny prison cell to “teach them the history of that place and this country, and to help them understand not only how those lessons apply to their own lives,” but also more broadly.
But, he said he looked forward to taking his two daughters to the tiny prison cell to “teach them the history of that place and this country, and to help them understand not only how those lessons apply to their own lives,” but also more broadly. Mr. Obama began his first full day in South Africa in a private meeting with Mr. Zuma, who noted that the talks took place “against the background of the ill health of our beloved former president.” Mr. Zuma noted the symbolism the moment, saying that Mr. Obama and Mr. Mandela are “bound by history as the first black presidents of your countries.”
Also at the news conference, Mr. Obama expressed concern about the latest wave of unrest and protests in Egypt, saying that the American government’s No. 1 priority is to make sure its personnel in embassies and consulates in the area are safe. He said American officials were in direct conversations with the Egyptian government about that issue. Afterward, Mr. Obama told reporters from both countries that his top priority for the African continent is to help the governments here to establish more stable and transparent democracies and to promote greater trade and investment that will help life the economies of both places.
Mr. Obama said his administration supported “peaceful protests and peaceful methods of bringing about change.” But he urged all sides to denounce violence as a means to achieving their ends. “I’m here in Africa because I think the United States needs to engage in a continent full of promise and possibility,” Mr. Obama said, dismissing a question about whether America has fallen behind China and other countries. “I think it’s good for the United States, whatever others do.”
“We do not take sides in terms of who should be elected by the Egyptian people,” Mr. Obama said. “We do take sides in terms of observing a process for democracy and the rule of law.” Speaking of Mr. Mandela in the past tense, Mr. Obama said the legacy of the former South African president will be to inspire other countries to reach beyond their internal disputes and crises to seize opportunity.
“Nelson Mandela showed what is possible and the people of South Africa have shown what’s possible when a priority is placed on constitutions and rule of law and respect for human dignity and that all people are treated equal,” Mr. Obama said.
He added that Mr. Mandela, “despite how revered he was,” understood that government must be “bigger than just one person, even one of the greatest people in history. What an incredible lesson that is.”
Outside Mr. Mandela’s house, South Africans were also discussing what might happen after his death. “According to a lot of black people I spoke to through my staff, they all fear an eruption of violence,” said Laurence Hodes, who lives in the same neighborhood and had come with two of her children. “But I don’t think so. This is history.”
For others the visit was an emotional experience. Diana Anderson, a local resident, arrived with her two young children, one of whom peppered her with questions as they read the cards stacked under a tree.
“Yes, he’s still at the doctors. He’s not feeling well,” Ms. Anderson told her two-year-old son, Rupert, as he held his hand.
“Why?” asked her son.
Ms. Anderson wiped away tears as she carried her children back to her vehicle. “It feels like he’s dead already,” she said. “Which is terrible.”