SOUTH AFRICA: Security at the hotel in Johannesburg where President Barack Obama is due to stay is tight as the city prepares for a visit that may or may not see him visit Nelson Mandela in hospital

Record ID: 170251

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Security at the hotel in Johannesburg where President Barack Obama is due to stay is tight as the city prepares for a visit that may or may not see him visit Nelson Mandela in hospital
  • Date: 28th June 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES ABOUT MANDELA NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT SCHEDULED VISIT OF U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO ROBBEN ISLAND
  • Embargoed: 13th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEPD5X2RCTCUE65B06VZHQO172
  • Story Text: The South African city of Johannesburg on Friday (June 28) began increasing security outside the Radisson hotel where U.S. President Barack Obama is due to stay as part of a visit to the country that may see him visit Nelson Mandela in hospital, currently said to be critical but "stable" in hospital.
    Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president who is clinging to life in a Pretoria hospital, will dominate the president's day even before he arrives in Johannesburg.
    Asked on Thursday (June 27) whether Obama would be able to pay Mandela a visit, the White House said that was up to the family.
    Obama heads to South Africa after wrapping up a visit to Senegal that focused on improving food security and promoting democratic institutions.
    The U.S. president is in the middle of a three-country tour of Africa that the White House hopes will compensate for what some view as years of neglect by the administration of America's first black president.
    Obama has described Mandela, also known as Madiba, as a personal hero.
    Whether they are able to meet or not, officials said his trip would serve largely as a tribute to the anti-apartheid leader.
    The president arrives in South Africa Friday evening and has no public events scheduled. He could go to the hospital then.
    Obama is scheduled to visit Robben Island, where Mandela spent years in prison, later during his trip.
    Johannesburg residents continued to deliver notes on paper and pebbles outside Mandela's house on Friday.
    Local resident Tammy Hack said the impact of his death should not be underestimated.
    "Our hearts are breaking at the moment. He is such an inspiration and he is a true South African hero. I think he is a world hero and we all are absolutely devastated," she said.
    Another Johannesburg resident, Shelley Cohen, said whilst it was a sad time, it was also a time to reflect on the joy Mandela had brought.
    "I feel we have been very, very blessed especially that we have been brought up with him and been able to see this amazing human being that has done so much for South African, for Africa and the world and it is so humbling to know that we have had the opportunity to be alive while he has been alive," she said.
    Mandela's condition improved overnight Wednesday (June 26) and is now "stable" while still critical, the government said on Thursday.
    The statement followed a visit by President Jacob Zuma -- his second in the past 24 hours -- to the anti-apartheid hero in a Pretoria hospital, where he is being treated for a lung infection.
    Mandela has already spent 21 days in the hospital, his fourth hospitalisation in six months.
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