Audience: Hello!

President Obama: Thobela.

Molweni.

Sanibona.

Dumelang.

Ndaa.

Reperile.

Audience: Reperile!

President Obama: See, I've been practicing.

How-zit?

(applause)

Did I leave anybody out?

All right, well, I didn't want to leave anybody out here.

I want to thank Vice Chancellor Max Price, who's here,

as well as Archbishop Njongonkulu.

It's wonderful to have them in attendance.

I am so happy to be here today.

It is wonderful to see all of these outstanding young people.

I just had the honor of going to Robben Island with Michelle

and our two daughters this afternoon.

And this was my second time;

I had the chance to visit back in 2006.

But there was something different

about bringing my children.

And Malia is now 15, Sasha is 12 --

and seeing them stand within the walls

that once surrounded Nelson Mandela,

I knew this was an experience that they would never forget.

I knew that they now appreciated a little bit more the sacrifices

that Madiba and others had made for freedom.

But what I also know is that because they've had a chance

to visit South Africa for a second time now,

they also understand that Mandela's spirit

could never be imprisoned --

for his legacy is here for all to see.

It's in this auditorium:

young people, black, white, Indian, everything in between --

(laughter)

-- living and learning together

in a South Africa that is free and at peace.

Now, obviously, today

Madiba's health weighs heavily on our hearts.

And like billions all over the world,

I -- and the American people --

have drawn strength from the example

of this extraordinary leader and the nation that he changed.

Nelson Mandela showed us that one man's courage

can move the world.

And he calls on us to make choices that reflects

not our fears, but our hopes -- in our own lives,

and in the lives of our communities and our countries.

And that's what I want to speak to all of you about today.

Some of you may be aware of this,

but I actually took my first step into political life

because of South Africa.

(applause)

This is true.

I was the same age as some of you -- 19 years old,

my whole life ahead of me.

I was going to school on a campus in California --

not quite as pretty as this one --

(laughter)

-- but similar.

And I must confess I was not always focused on my studies.

(laughter)

There were a lot of distractions.

(laughter)

And I enjoyed those distractions.

And as the son of an African father

and a white American mother,

the diversity of America was in my blood,

but I had never cared much for politics.

I didn't think it mattered to me.

I didn't think I could make a difference.

And like many young people, I thought that cynicism --

a certain ironic detachment --

was a sign of wisdom and sophistication.

But then I learned what was happening here in South Africa.

And two young men, ANC representatives,

came to our college and spoke,

and I spent time hearing their stories.

And I learned about the courage of those

who waged the Defiance Campaign,

and the brutality leveled against innocent men,

women and children from Sharpeville to Soweto.

And I studied the leadership of Luthuli, and the words of Biko,

and the example of Madiba, and I knew that while brave people

were imprisoned just off these shores on Robben Island,

my own government in the United States

was not standing on their side.

That's why I got involved in what was known

as the divestment movement in the United States.

It was the first time I ever attached myself to a cause.

It was the first time also that I ever gave a speech.

It was only two minutes long --

(laughter)

-- and I was really just a warm-up act

at a rally that we were holding demanding

that our college divest from Apartheid South Africa.

So I got up on stage, I started making my speech, and then,

as a bit of political theater, some people came out

with glasses that looked like security officers

and they dragged me off the stage.

(laughter)

Fortunately, there are no records of this speech.

(laughter)

But I remember struggling to express

the anger and the passion that I was feeling,

and to echo in some small way the moral clarity

of freedom fighters an ocean away.

And I'll be honest with you, when I was done,

I did not think I'd made any difference --

I was even a little embarrassed.

And I thought to myself -- what's a bunch of university

kids doing in California that is somehow

going to make a difference?

It felt too distant from what people were going through

in places like Soweto.

But looking back, as I look at that 19-year old young man,

I'm more forgiving of the fact that the speech

might not have been that great, because I knew --

I know now that something

inside me was stirring at that time, something important.

And that was the belief that I could be part of something

bigger than myself; that my own salvation was bound up

with those of others.

That's what Bobby Kennedy expressed,

far better than I ever could,

when he spoke here at the University of Cape Town in 1966.

He said, "Each time a man stands up for an ideal,

or acts to improve the lot of others,

or strikes out against injustice,

he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,

and crossing each other from a million different centers

of energy and daring,

those ripples build a current which can sweep down

the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Now, the world was very different on that June day

in 1966 when Bobby Kennedy spoke those words.

Mandela faced many more years as a prisoner.

Apartheid was entrenched in this land.

In the United States, the victories

of the Civil Rights Movement were still uncertain.

In fact, on the very day that Kennedy spoke here,

the American civil rights leader, James Meredith,

was shot in Mississippi, where he was marching

to inspire blacks to register to vote.

Those were difficult, troubled, trying times.

The idea of hope might have seemed misplaced.

It would have seemed inconceivable to people

at that time -- that less than 50 years later,

an African American President might address

an integrated audience,

at South Africa's oldest university,

and that this same university would have conferred

an honorary degree to a President, Nelson Mandela.

(applause)

It would have seemed impossible.

That's the power that comes from acting on our ideals.

That's what Mandela understood.

But it wasn't just the giants of history

who brought about this change.

Think of the many millions of acts of conscience

that were part of that effort.

Think about how many voices were raised against injustice

over the years -- in this country, in the United States,

around the world.

Think of how many times ordinary people pushed

against those walls of oppression and resistance,

and the violence and the indignities that they suffered;

the quiet courage that they sustained.

Think of how many ripples of hope it took to build

a wave that would eventually come crashing down

like a mighty stream.

So Mandela's life, like Kennedy's life,

like Gandhi's life, like the life of all those who fought

to bring about a new South Africa or a more just America --

they stand as a challenge to me.

But more importantly, they stand as a challenge

to your generation,

because they tell you that your voice matters --

your ideals, your willingness to act on those ideals,

your choices can make a difference.

And if there's any country in the world that shows

the power of human beings to affect change, this is the one.

You've shown us how a prisoner can become a President.

You've shown us how bitter adversaries can reconcile.

You've confronted crimes of hatred and intolerance

with truth and love,

and you wrote into your constitution the human rights

that sustain freedom.

And those are only the most publicized aspects

of South Africa's transformation,

because alongside South Africa's political struggle,

other battles have been waged as well

to improve the lives of those who for far too long

have been denied economic opportunity and social justice.

During my last journey here in 2006,

what impressed me so much was the good works of people

on the ground teaching children, caring for the sick,

bringing jobs to those in need.

In Khayelitsha Township --

I'm still working on some of these --

(laughter)

-- I met women who were living with HIV.

And this is at a time back in 2006,

where there were still some challenges

in terms of the policies

around HIV and AIDS here in South Africa.

But they were on the ground,

struggling to keep their families together --

helping each other,

working on behalf of each other.

In Soweto, I met people who were striving to carry forward

the legacy of Hector Pieterson.

At the Rosa Parks Library in Pretoria,

I was struck by the energy of students who --

they wanted to capture this moment of promise

for South Africa.

And this is a moment of great promise.

South Africa is one of the world's economic centers.

Obviously, you can see it here in Cape Town.

In the country that saw the first human heart transplant,

new breakthroughs are being made in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

I was just talking to your Vice Chancellor.

People come to this University from over 100 countries

to study and teach.

In America, we see the reach of your culture

from "Freshly Ground" concerts to the --

(applause)

-- we've got the Nando's just a couple of blocks

from the White House.

(Laughter and applause.)

And thanks to the first World Cup

ever held on this continent,

the world now knows the sound of the vuvuzela.

(applause)

I'm not sure that's like the greatest gift

that South Africa ever gave.

(laughter)

But progress has also rippled across the African continent.

From Senegal to Cote D'Ivoire to Malawi,

democracy has weathered strong challenges.

Many of the fastest-growing economies in the world are here

in Africa, where there is an historic shift taking place

from poverty to a growing, nascent middle class.

Fewer people are dying of preventable disease.

More people have access to health care.

More farmers are getting their products to market

at fair prices.

From micro-finance projects in Kampala,

to stock traders in Lagos, to cell phone entrepreneurs

in Nairobi, there is an energy here that can't be denied --

Africa rising.

We know this progress, though, rests on a fragile foundation.