Joburg in lockdown as president comes to town

Several dry runs that involved SAPS joint operations teams, large motorcades and helicopters were concluded ahead of Air Force One's landing

WhenUS President Barack Obama set foot on South African soil, those areas he would be visiting had long been the scene of multiple security drills.

Outside the Sandton hotel where Obama and his family spent their first night, several dry runs that involved an SAPS joint operations team, large motorcades and helicopters had been concluded in preparation for the arrival.

Obama arrived at Waterkloof Air Force Base on Friday night for his first visit since he became US president in January 2009.

The practice runs included motorcades speeding into the Sandton CBD using the normally congested Grayston Drive while all connecting roads were sealed off.

But the dry runs were not only limited to the ground - a number of US Marine helicopters were seen flying over Johannesburg two days before Obama's arrival.

All intersections surrounding the Radisson Blu hotel, where Obama stayed, were manned by up to five police officers in uniform from early in the morning on Friday.

The hotel's parking entrance was manned by the SAPS dog unit and all vehicles were stopped and thoroughly searched with the help of sniffer dogs as they entered.

The mounted unit was also on hand, marshalling the area as members of the US Secret Service in plain clothes kept a close watch.

The area around the hotel, including the Mushroom Farm Park across the road, was swarming with police and their vehicles.

Yesterday, outside the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus, where Obama gave a speech to students, the police cordoned off the entrance and searched vehicles entering the premises.

A section of the main road leading into the campus was closed off and the police and metro police patrolled the area.

It comes as so-called Nobama protests took place by groups opposed to his visit.

On Friday, some 1600 protestors took to the streets in Pretoria. The group gathered under the banners of Cosatu, the South African Communist Party and the Muslim Lawyers' Association, and marched on the US embassy in Pretoria.

The police deployed members of the public order policing and diplomatic protection units, including officers from the nearby Sunnyside police station, to keep a watch on the march.

The area around the embassy, including the parking lot, was cordoned off, but Muslim protesters were, however, allowed to hold Friday prayers on the parking lot outside the embassy.

The protest was one of three such actions against Obama's visit that were held in Gauteng.

On Friday evening, the Young Communist League's secretary, Bhuti Manamela, addressed another rally, hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance in Lenasia south of Johannesburg.

Yesterday, a group of protesters also gathered near the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus.

A part of the protest, which involved students and staff, was against the university's decision to confer an honorary law degree on Obama, which he has accepted.

The degree was nevertheless conferred yesterday on the US statesman.

A formal event would be planned for a later stage, said deputy vice-chancellor Professor Tinyiko Maluleke.

There was minor drama outside the campus when controversial Pan Africanist Youth Congress spokesman Sello Tladi was arrested for allegedly assaulting a policeman.

It was not immediately clear where he was taken. Tladi was one of the protesters.