In a grassy sunny playground at the foot of the Table Mountain and in a prison yard and cell on Robben Island, two South African struggles were brought to life for the Taoiseach yesterday.
At Nazareth House, Mr Ahern and his partner Ms Celia Larkin met some of the 42 orphan children living there. On the wall were two small plaques bearing the names of those children's predecessors, inscribed on little brass plates.
Within two years it is almost certain that the names of all the lively children there yesterday will join them. For those children are all HIV positive with parents who have already died or abandoned them. Most will be lucky to reach the age of five or six, although one or two are still alive, having progressed to primary school at the age of seven.
Nazareth House is run largely by Irish nuns and yesterday the Taoiseach presented them with a cheque for the building of an extension wing. The Irish chairman of the board, Mr Oliver Duffy, said South Africa was now ravaged by AIDS.
It had been predicted some years ago that by 2004, 10 per cent of the South African population would be infected with the HIV virus. But that figure had been almost reached already, and there were 1,700 new cases of HIV infection per day.
"Ireland sent its sons and daughters to the four corners of the earth to preach, to teach and to look after others," he said. "Today, the disease is AIDS. We help these children die with dignity." The children are well nourished, sleep in comfort, are given a lot of attention and receive treatment for the various infections and illnesses associated with AIDS.
Standing in the sunshine in the beautifully kept gardens of Nazareth House at the foot of the Table Mountain as the children ran around him, Mr Ahern remarked on the irony that the circumstances in which they now live were so much better than the impoverished conditions they had come from.
"Irish people are very proud of their aid programme," he added.
A short helicopter ride brought the Taoiseach and his party to Robben Island, the place which symbolises that other great South African struggle: the successful fight against apartheid.
Mr Ahmad Kathrada, one of the eight people sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour along with Mr Nelson Mandela in 1963, brought the Irish party on a guided tour of the prison, where Mr Mandela had spent most of his time in jail.
In the small prison yard he outlined the petty discrimination and hardship imposed by the apartheid regime, even on prisoners.
He brought us to the tiny six foot by six foot cell where Mr Mandela had been incarcerated. They had slept on mats on the concrete floor of their cells as there were no beds. There was no glass in the windows during the long cold winters. Initially there were no newspapers, and only one censored letter and one visit every six months.
Mr Kathrada was quiet and matter of fact, explaining the cruelty of the system without any obvious bitterness. He brought us to the lime quarry where he and the other eight spent their days digging out lime in the baking hot summers and freezing winters. He said he knew Ireland had always supported them, and he wanted to thank the Taoiseach for that.
Mr Ahern asked had they always believed they would get out, or were there times when they thought they would be in prison for the rest of their lives. "We never lost confidence," replied Mr Kathrada. "We always thought we were going to succeed. We did not set time-frames but we knew we would win."