Jun 29, 2013

On his first official visit to South Africa, U.S. President Barack Obama met the family of ailing former South African president Nelson Mandela on Saturday. Obama had reportedly wished to meet with Mandela himself, but the anti-apartheid hero has been in critical condition in a Pretoria hospital due to a lung infection. Outside the hospital and across the country, South Africans have been praying, leaving messages and lighting candles for their ill former president.

: Vendors sell African National Congress flags depicting Nelson Mandela outside the MediClinic Heart hospital where the former South African president is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa. U.S. President Barack Obama met with the former South African leader’s family on June 29, 2013, to offer prayers as Mandela continues to be treated for a lung infection. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

: Pebble stones with get well messages for former South African President Nelson Mandela are seen outside his home in Johannesburg on June 29, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama met the family of his critically ill hero Mandela on a visit to South Africa, the White House said.The president, whose landmark trip to Africa has been overshadowed by Mandela’s illness, decided not to visit the ailing icon, instead meeting family members at the Mandela Centre of Memory in Johannesburg. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)

: A woman cries while praying with other residents of the mining region of Marikana in South Africa outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital, where former South African President Nelson Mandela is hospitalized in Pretoria on June 29, 2013. Mandela, who turns 95 next month, has been in intensive care for three weeks for a recurrent lung disease dating from his years in apartheid-era prisons. (Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images)

: Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe (right), and grandaughter Indileka, arrive at the Medi Clinic Heart hospital in Pretoria on June 29, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama met the family of his “inspiration” Nelson Mandela but was unable to visit the anti-apartheid legend who remains critically ill in hospital.(Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images)

: A baby sits by messages and flowers left for former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the MediClinic Heart hospital in Pretoria where Mandela is hospitalized. U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday decided not to visit Mandela in the hospital to preserve the “peace and comfort” of the anti-apartheid legend, whose family he met with instead. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images)

: People attend a prayer meters away from the actual “Capture Site” of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Howick, approximately 150kms west of Durban, in the KwaZulu Natal midlands of South Africa on June 29, 2013. Mandela was arrested by apartheid police at the “capture site” on August 5, 1962, and trialed and jailed for the next 27 years. Mandela, who turns 95 next month, has been in intensive care for three weeks for a recurrent lung disease dating from his years in apartheid-era prisons. (Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Images)

: Members of a church group pray for ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated in Pretoria, June 29, 2013. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

: A boy plays a homemade guitar in front of the ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela’s home in Qunu, Eastern Cape, South Africa, on June 29, 2013. (Siegfried Modola/Reuters)

: Locals hold candles as they sing for ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, where he is being treated, in Pretoria, South Africa, June 29, 2013. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

: A girl holds a Mandela poster in front of messages of support for ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, where he is being treated, in Pretoria, South Africa on June 29, 2013. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

: Members of a church group pray for ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 29, 2013. (Kevin Coombs/Reuters)

: Well-wishers gather to show support for ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated in Pretoria June 29, 2013. Mandela’s condition remains “critical but stable” but the government hopes the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero will be out of hospital soon, President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday. (Kevin Coombs/Reuter)

: Images of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama are depicted on a wall covered with messages and flowers outside the MediClinic Heart hospital on June 29, 2013 in Pretoria. U.S. President Barack Obama met with former South African leader Nelson Mandela’s family to offer prayers as Mandela continues to be treated for a lung infection. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

: A wellwisher takes a picture of a wall covered with messages and flowers for former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the MediClinic Heart hospital on June 29, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. U.S. President Barack Obama met with the former South African leader’s family to offer prayers as Mandela continues to be treated for a lung infection. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

: People await the departure of U.S. President Barack Obama outside Johannesburg University in Soweto, where Obama was meeting with students on June 29, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. During his first official visit to South Africa, Obama also met with members of ailing former South African president Nelson Mandela’s family. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

: People await the departure of U.S. President Barack Obama outside Johannesburg University in Soweto, where Obama was meeting with students on June 29, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. During his first official visit to South Africa, Obama also met with members of ailing former South African president Nelson Mandela’s family. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

: U.S. security watches over the Union Buildings as U.S. President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama leave in Marine One on June 29, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Mandela vigil continues as Obama meets with family

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