Hillary Clinton met Nelson Mandela

Her private lunch with the Nobel Peace Prize winner on Monday was the first event of her South African visit, an indication of the prestige still enjoyed by the man who led the fight against white-minority rule.

The two chatted in his home ahead of the meal, an honour that few receive as Mandela's health has become more fragile with age.

Mandela did not speak but smiled as he and his wife, Graca Machel, posed for a picture with Clinton.

"That's a beautiful smile!" Clinton said.

"Madiba's smile is a trademark," Machel said.

Mandela was elected president in South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994, after spending 27 years as a political prisoner under the segregationist apartheid regime.

Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, was the US president when Mandela took office. Their two families developed close ties, with Bill Clinton paying a visit to Qunu last month on the eve of Mandela's 94th birthday.

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