U.S. President Barack Obama paid tribute to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela as he flew to South Africa on Friday but played down expectations of a meeting with the ailing black leader during an Africa tour promoting democracy and food security.
"Obama to meet with Mandela family"
President Barack Obama, holding hands with daughter Sasha, and first lady Michelle Obama and eldest daughter Malia exit Air Force One at Waterkloof Airbase, Pretoria, Friday, June 28, 2013. President Obama is receiving the embrace you might expect for a long-lost son on his return to his father’s home continent, even as he has yet to leave a lasting policy legacy for Africa on the scale of his two predecessors. THEMBA HADEBE — AP Photo
U.S. President Barack Obama, middle, and first lady Michelle Obama, right, react as Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, left, gestures during their arrival at Waterkloof Airbase in Pretoria, Friday, June 28, 2013. President Obama is receiving the embrace you might expect for a long-lost son on his return to his father’s home continent, even as he has yet to leave a lasting policy legacy for Africa on the scale of his two predecessors. THEMBA HADEBE — AP Photo
FILE - This two-picture combination of file photos shows Nelson Mandela on Aug. 8, 2012, left, and President Barack Obama on May 31, 2013. It was as a college student that President Barack Obama began to find his political voice. Inspired by Nelson Mandela’s struggle against South Africa’s apartheid government, the young Obama joined campus protests against the white racist rule that kept Mandela locked away in prison for nearly three decades. Now a historic, barrier-breaking figure himself, Obama will arrive in South Africa Friday to find a country drastically transformed by Mandela’s influence, and a nation grappling with the beloved 94-year-old’s mortality. FILE — AP Photo
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