Clinton arrives in S Africa for meeting with Mandela

S AFRICA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet with South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on Monday, the State Department said, hours after her arrival on the latest leg of her Africa tour. The luncheon with the 94-year-old former president will take place in Qunu, a village in the country’s southeast.

Clinton, who met schoolgirls and Africa’s second woman president during an unprecedented visit to Malawi Sunday before jetting to South Africa, will be in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town until Thursday morning. While in South Africa, Clinton is also expected to meet with senior government officials, as well as senior representatives from the South African private sector. The State Department announced earlier it was partnering with the US Chamber of Commerce to lead a business delegation of approximately 10 senior US executives to the three cities Clinton is visiting.

“South Africa is the leading market in Africa for American goods, and the United States is both an important export market and a source of foreign direct investment for South Africa,” it said. Members of the business delegation were said to include senior executives from Black & Veatch, Boeing, Chevron, EMD/Caterpillar, FedEx Express, GE, Symbion, Trimble, Wal-Mart, and Zanbato.

A trade mission meanwhile includes the heads of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the US Trade and Development Agency, as well as Robert Hormats, under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, and Francisco Sanchez, under secretary of commerce for international trade.

AFP