Former president Nelson Mandela flew to Mocambique on Thursday morning to fulfil a last engagement before beginning a well-deserved holiday in the west African country of Gabon. An aide said he received several courtesy calls by various VIPs at the presidential residence Mahlambandlopfu in Pretoria earlier on Thursday morning. They included Spanish crown prince Filippe de Borbon, Gabonese president Omar Bongo, and Daimler/Chrysler international chairperson Jurgen Schremp. Schremp presented Mandela with a painting depicting him and several of the important places in his life — the Union Buildings, Table Mountain and Robben Island.
Mandela will speak at a function organised by the Mondlane Foundation in Maputo on Friday, and is expected to leave soon after for Gabon. He is scheduled to stay there until June 26, when he is due back in South Africa for a farewell dinner hosted in his honour by the African National Congress.