- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: POP STAR MICHAEL JACKSON MEETS PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA
- Date: 20th July 1996
- Summary: MAHLAMBONDLUPFU, PRETORIA, (JULY 20, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV/SV ENTRANCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA'S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE MAHLAMBONDLUPFU/ MOTORCADE OF U.S. POP STAR MICHAEL JACKSON ARRIVING (2 SHOTS) 0.16 2. SV MANDELA AND JACKSON WALK OUT OF OFFICIAL RESIDENCE 0.30 3. CUTAWAY OF MEDIA 0.34 4. SV MANDELA SAYING JACKSON HAS CONTRIBUTED A LOT TO ART AND HE IS HAPPY TO HOST THE STAR IN SOUTH AFRICA (ENGLISH) 0.52 5. SV JACKSON SAYING HE HAS HAD THE TIME OF HIS LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA, HE LOVES THE PEOPLE AND MANDELA AND WANTS TO BUY A HOUSE THERE (ENGLISH) 1.24 6. SV MEDIA 1.28 7. SV MANDELA AND JACKSON EMBRACE 1.45 8. CU JACKSON SAYING HE IS WORKING ON A SONG ABOUT MANDELA (ENGLISH) 1.52 9. SLV MANDELA AND JACKSON SHAKE HANDS AND WALK INTO MANDELA'S RESIDENCE 2.05 10. SV JACKSON'S CONVOY LEAVES 2.18 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 4th August 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA
- City:
- Country: South Africa
- Reuters ID: LVA4JKPVXCCLBX2BUZ5QXHE411BD
- Story Text: INTRO: American pop star Michael Jackson hugged President Nelson Mandela after a short, formal meeting on the last day of the singer's trip to South Africa.
President Nelson Mandela on Saturday (July 20) met Michael Jackson for the second time during the singer's three-day visit to South Africa and said he was delighted to be able to host the star.
Appearing before reporters outside his official residence in Pretoria, Mandela shook hands with the superstar and embraced him.
"I am very happy indeed to host him (Jackson) even for just a few minutes," Mandela said. "He has made a great contribution to art, to music. I am very happy he is in our country." Jackson, wearing his trademark pancake make-up and holding a white umbrella to keep off the wintry morning sun said he had had the time of his life in South Africa.
"It is my pleasure, it is my honour to be here in South Africa," Jackson said. "I love you people very much and I had the time of my life here. I've had so much fun, I hate to leave and I'm definitely looking for a home here to buy, because I would love to spend the rest of my life here. We are definitely coming in January and this (Mandela) is a wonderful, lovely man and I love Nelson Mandela very much. Thank you for all your hospitality and love. I love you all very much." Responding to a question on whether he wanted to compose a song about Mandela, Jackson replied: "Yes, very much. I am working on it now. I was working on it last night (Friday)." It was the first formal meeting between the two although the singer turned up at a family function to wish him "happy birthday" on Thursday (July 18).
The real reason for Jackson's three-day trip to South Africa has been unclear with his PR department simply promising a news conference which he attended at the Sun City gambling resort on Thursday (July 18).
At the news conference Jackson said he wanted to buy a house in South Africa and would include the country in his upcoming world History concert tour.
The address billed as an "important announcement for the world" disappointed some who expected the pop star to announce plans for a multi-million dollar theme park or a grandiose conservation project in South Africa.
Jackson's visit was organised by Sun City chief operating officer Jerry Inzerillo and (Khoisan X (Editors: spelling correct), a leading member of the black radical Pan Africanist Congress. (The exclamation mark represents a click in the language of the original inhabitants of the region, known as Khoisan or Bushmen.)
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