Obama was at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus on Saturday for a "townhall" style engagement with young Africans, who had been pre-selected by the US embassy. Many of the audience were young South Africans who had previous engagements in US embassy programmes.
According to the university's website, Obama on Saturday is set to "lead a Young African Leaders Initiative meeting with an invited delegation of students. Some of the students and young leaders attending are anticipating engaging with Barack Obama about issues concerning the youth. President Obama will address the delegation in Soweto, a part of South Africa which is now symbolic of tourism, culture and a growing middle-class."
South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe was spotted in the audience, and groups from schools and youth groups were also invited. The venue seated some 500 people but more were squeezed into aisles while the rest of the invited audience were seated in overflow rooms with a televised feed.
One of the event's crew members told the Mail & Guardian that the auditorium-style room had been built from scratch in a gym space at the university; from the stage in the centre to the bleachers lining the room and the lighting above.
Live feeds were televised from Uganda and Nigeria, among other African countries.
Obama protests
Outside the venue hundreds of protesters gathered featuring banners likening Obama to Hitler. Criticism has been directed at the university for contemplating bestowing an honorary degree on Obama. Some trade unions, political parties and civil society bodies condemned the US president's visit to South Africa.
"We categorically make it known that the visit of the US president to South Africa is an unwelcome visit that will be protested, picketed and resisted by all justice and peace-loving peoples of this country," the organisations said in a joint statement on Sunday.
According to a report on Friday, Cosatu and its partners in the "No, You Can't Honour Obama” coalition – the Nobama campaign, in colloquial shorthand – said they would hold protest marches in Pretoria, Cape Town and Soweto while Obama is here.
They are objecting to what they denounce as US imperialism, the atrocities its military agencies commit in various countries, and its continued economic and political support of the "apartheid state” of Israel.
His visit to the university on Saturday however was exclusively for the townhall, according to the university.
The high profile visit – a long overdue first state visit to the country – was also overshadowed by Nelson Mandela's critical condition in hospital. Mandela is a personal hero for Obama.