Bebe Akinboade
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MICHELLE OBAMA VISITS NELSON MANDELA

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South African President Jacob Zuma has refused to meet Michelle Obama during her five-day tour of Africa saying that he is too busy. The polygamist leader snubbed the First Lady by sending his prisons minister to greet her at the airport and one of his three wives to meet her today.
The brush off came as Mrs Obama granted a rare audience with Nelson Mandela on the opening day of her visit to Africa – her first major solo tour without her husband.
The First Lady, accompanied by her mother and two daughters, visited the 92-year-old former president and anti-apartheid leader, at his home in Johannesburg.
Current President Jacob Zuma was out of the country as Mrs Obama arrived on Monday night, but when he returned aides said he was ‘not available’ to meet her.
The supposed snub comes as relations are tense between South Africa and the U.S.
Earlier today the Obama family met with Nelson Mandela. Mrs Obama was on a visit to the offices of Mandela’s foundation when he sent word that he wanted to meet them.
A healthy-looking Nelson Mandela spent about 20 minutes meeting with Mrs Obama and her daughters Malia, 12 and Sasha, 10.
A photo showed the 92-year-old sitting on a couch next to Mrs Obama, pen in hand to sign an advance copy of his new book, ‘Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Quotations Book’.
Mr Mandela was wearing one of his trademark shirts, richly patterned and buttoned at the neck.
The party had been viewing Mandela’s personal items including prison desk calendars and notebooks when they were invited to come to his home.
It was Mrs Obama’s first meeting with the prisoner-turned-president.
Her trip comes as the United States starts gearing up for the 2012 presidential election, when her husband, President Barack Obama, hopes to hold on to the White House.
Pictures of Mrs Obama in Africa could appear in the campaign to appeal to black voters, a critical voting bloc for Obama’s Democrats.
White House officials said her visit would advance her husband’s foreign policy goals.
‘This trip by the first lady is very directly connected to the president’s agenda in Africa and the Obama administration’s foreign policy in Africa,’ said Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser.
‘It’s no coincidence that she would be visiting countries that have embraced democracy, and in many respects, have shown that not only does their democracy deliver for its citizens, but it can provide a positive example for the neighborhood that these countries are in as well.’

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