Pauline said: 'I was invited to meet the President in recognition of the work I did in helping to make the friendship link between Erkuhuleni Municipality and Lewisham, when I was a councillor.
'It all began when I was on holiday in South Africa and I was asked by Dennis Goldberg (who was in prison with Nelson Mandela), to present books to the Mayor of Erkuhuleni from the school children of Lewisham. After presenting the books I was taken on a trip around the townships where the books were to be delivered and it was the most humbling experience of my life. There were children in rags who were really hungry to learn and they had brand new libraries with no books in them. Lewisham school children made great efforts to rectify this and it was much appreciated by the townships.'