Obama bids for Madiba magic
NELSON MANDELA LECTURE: MOST CRUCIAL POST-PRESIDENCY SPEECH
Ex-US president’s Mandela lecture ‘most important speech’.
Current and former heads of state of 11 countries to attend event kicking off centenary celebrations.
World leaders will descend on Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg today for former US president Barack Obama’s delivery of the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture.
The event is to be attended by the current and former heads of 11 different countries, renowned human rights activists, as well as former leaders of the United Nations. It kicks off a week of activities commemorating the stalwart’s birthday and centenary.
Obama, who was last in the country at Mandela’s 2013 funeral, will be making his first appearance here as a former president.
Among the 200 VIP guests will be former US president Jimmy Carter, former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former UN secretaries-general Ban Kimoon and Kofi Anan.
Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981, is a Nobel Prize laureate who became known after his presidency for humanitarian work. He is also honorary chair of the World Justice Project.
Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, became Africa’s first female head of state in 2006.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, former president Kgalema Motlanthe and struggle activist Graca Machel will also be there.
As the first black president of the US, Obama, another Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been hailed as an international hero, but also criticised for not doing enough in Africa as president, despite his father being Kenyan.
He started his African tour in Kenya, arriving on Sunday for a two-day visit. He also held brief meetings with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Obama is also scheduled to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa.