US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton on Monday met privately with Nelson Mandela in his hometown
of Qunu, in South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Clinton's meeting with the former president was "a private
matter," according to US embassy officials in South Africa. It was
followed by a lunch with the former anti-apartheid hero - who at the
age of 94 and in declining health, rarely receives visitors.
Following the lunch with the Nobel peace prize laureate and his
wife Graca Machel, Clinton was expected to make a brief visit to a
business forum for emerging markets - including Brazil, China and
South Africa - before meeting diplomats in Johannesburg.
Clinton's 11-day African tour will draw to a close at the end of
the week, after visits to Nigeria, Benin and Ghana, where she will
attend the funeral of the late President John Atta Mills.
So far she has visited Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and
Malawi on her tour.
In Malawi on Sunday she praised President Joyce Banda for
implementing economic reforms since taking office after the death of
her predecessor earlier this year.
Clinton was in Kenya on Saturday, where she met with Somali
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and other Somali officials ahead of the
UN's August 20 deadline for drafting a constitution and electing a
parliament and president.
In South Sudan, Clinton became the most senior US official to
visit the country, which is grappling with border tensions with
Sudan, from which it became independent last year.
