By Moffet Mofokeng
About 500 people staged a protest at the Library Gardens in Johannesburg on Saturday, calling on President Thabo Mbeki not to host his United States counterpart George Bush.
"Bush, you're not welcome here," read one poster held aloft by demonstrators.
Another one said: "Mbeki, do not embrace Bush."
Bush is scheduled to visit South Africa on Tuesday and Wednesday next week during his first tour of Africa since he took over as president of the United States in 2001.
He is expected to meet Mbeki at the Union Buildings on Wednesday, and the demonstrators plan to picket the venue while the two leaders are meeting behind closed doors.
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The United States president visits Botswana, Uganda, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa during his tour, which starts on Monday and ends on Friday.
Protesting under the banner of the Anti-War Coalition, some of the demonstrators said Bush was coming to South Africa to solicit Mbeki's support in his domination of the world.
"He (Bush) is coming to South Africa to spread the power, the domination and the imperialist agenda of the United States," said Jubilee 2000 patron Dennis Brutus.
"He is inviting President Mbeki to embrace the plans for Washington to dominate the world. We must resist those plans.
"We will resist, we will oppose those plans. A people united will never be defeated," he said to the applause of the crowd.
Mauritian national Ram Seegobin said Bush delayed his first visit to the continent because he was "busy planning to murder people in Iraq".
"Bush is the naked (and) ugly face of American imperialism. In Iraq, in Afghanistan children died, what did Bush do?" Seegobin asked.
"That is why we must say to our governments 'Bush is not welcome here'," he said.
Kenyan native Wahoo Kara added: "We must stand up against this monster who has no respect for life.
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