Michelle Obama Meets With Nelson Mandela in South Africa

United States Department of State (Washington, DC)

Mackenzie C. Babb

21 June 2011

Washington — First lady Michelle Obama has met with former South African President Nelson Mandela during the first day of her official weeklong visit to southern Africa.

Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha were invited to meet with the anti-apartheid leader in his home in Johannesburg after taking a tour of his foundation nearby June 21, according to White House pool reports. The first lady’s mother, Marian Robinson, and niece and nephew, Leslie and Avery Robinson, who are traveling with her, were also invited to join. The reports said Mandela was accompanied by his wife, Graça Machel, the former first lady of Mozambique.

Mandela, 92, spent 27 years in prison for his role in the movement against apartheid, South Africa’s now-abolished system of racial separation. Mandela went on to become his country’s first black president, serving from 1994 to 1999.

Johannesburg was the second stop for Obama after Pretoria, where she spoke to South African leaders and U.S. Embassy employees June 21 ahead of meeting with Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, wife of South African President Jacob Zuma.

After arriving in Johannesburg, the first lady and her family stopped at a day care center, where they read a book to young children. While in the city, Obama is scheduled to deliver the keynote address to a U.S.-sponsored Young African Women Leaders Forum June 22. Participants include women from across sub-Saharan Africa who are leading or are involved in social and economic initiatives in their countries.

“What we’ve seen in country after country is an undeniable trend that in places where women are in power, the societies are more prosperous and democratic,” said presidential adviser Ben Rhodes of the National Security Council during a call with reporters June 15. “And so, we believe that it’s a very important message to send that the empowerment of women and girls in Africa and around the world will help foster greater peace and prosperity.”

The White House said the forum “will build on the Obama administration’s ongoing engagement with the next generation of African leaders and the momentum of the August 2010 President’s Forum with Young African Leaders held at the White House.”

Rhodes said the first lady’s trip is fundamentally connected to the president’s goal of advancing democracy in Africa, and emphasized that Africa’s democratic development, health and security greatly affect the future of the United States.

Obama is scheduled to meet with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa and to speak with students at the University of Cape Town before traveling to Gaborone, Botswana, where she will meet with President Ian Khama and visit a children’s clinic. She is set to return to Washington June 26.

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