Obama's Homage To Mandela On Africa Tour

Barack Obama flies to South Africa today hoping to pay homage to the legacy of his critically-ill hero, Nelson Mandela.

Mr Mandela's poor health means the two men are not expected to have a long-anticipated meeting for the cameras.

South Africa's first black president - who turns 95 next month - was taken to hospital three weeks ago with recurrent lung problems.

On the eve of Mr Obama's visit, Mr Mandela was said to be in a critical condition, but had stabilised since a scare forced President Jacob Zuma to cancel a trip to neighbouring Mozambique.

"He is much better today," said Mr Zuma after seeing Mr Mandela late on Thursday for the second time in less than 24 hours.

Yet South Africans, including Mr Mandela's family, remain braced for the worst.

Mandela pictures are hung up at a prayer meeting at a Cape Town school

"I won't lie. It doesn't look good," daughter Makaziwe Mandela said. She added that "if we speak to him he responds and tries to open his eyes - he's still there".

"Anything is imminent, but I want to emphasise again that it is only God who knows when the time to go is," she told local radio.

Mr Obama, who is currently on a three-nation Africa tour, has led a chorus of support for the man he has dubbed a "hero for the world".

"The President will be speaking to the legacy of Nelson Mandela and that will be a significant part of our time in South Africa," said deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes.

"The President will treasure any opportunity he has to celebrate that legacy."

Mr Obama has described Mr Mandela as "a hero for the world"

The US President's tour of Africa could yet be upended by sudden developments in Madiba's condition.

The White House says it is in the hands of the Mandela family and the South African authorities on any aspect of the visit.

"We will obviously be very deferential to the developments that take place and the wishes of the family and the South African government," Mr Rhodes said.

A visit by Mr Obama to Mr Mandela's former jail cell on Robben Island, off Cape Town, on Sunday would now take on extra "profundity", he added.

Mr Obama also visited the site in 2006 when he was the senator for Illinois.

Speaking in Senegal on the first leg of his long-awaited Africa trip, Mr Obama described Mandela as "a personal hero."

"I think he is a hero for the world, and if and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," he said.

Mr Obama landed in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on Wednesday night for the first leg of his three-country visit.

On his first day he visited the Senegalese island of Goree, from which Africans were shipped across the Atlantic into slavery.

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