Obama not to attend new South African president's inauguration

Pretoria (South Africa), Apr.30 (ANI): US President Barack Obama will not be among the heads of state attending ANC leader Jacob Zuma's inauguration as the country's fourth democratically-elected president, the foreign affairs department said on Wednesday.

Director general Ayanda Ntsaluba told the media in Pretoria that confirmations were continuing to flow in for the May 9 festivities, and so far, 21 heads of state have confirmed that they will be attending.

The foreign delegate's list would become clearer around Monday or Tuesday.

Ntsaluba said mostly their foreign ministers and special envoys would represent the 20 other countries.

According to News 24 and SACA, he would not elaborate on which heads of state would come, as it was a "sensitive matter" and there were security concerns. He did however confirm that US President Barack Obama would not be present.

Meanwhile, preparations for the approximately R 75 million inauguration at the Union Buildings were well under way with workmen busy and scaffolding scattered across the grounds. (ANI)