A Statue of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

was unveiled on 24 July 2018. It was placed on the balcony of

Cape Town City Hall Cape Town City Hall is a large Edwardian building in Cape Town city centre which was built in 1905. It is located on the Grand Parade to the west of the Castle and is built from honey-coloured oolitic limestone imported from Bath in England. ...

overlooking the Grand Parade, Cape Town, South Africa. Nelson Mandela was the first post-apartheid president of South Africa and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993

Placing

It was placed on exactly the same spot where Nelson Mandela made his first public speech after his release from prison on 11 February 1990.

Date of unveiling

The year was chosen to be part of the celebration of Nelson Mandela's birthday. He would have been 100 years old in 2018 if still alive. He was born on 18 July 1918

Initiative

It was a joint initiative of The City of Cape Town and the

Government of the Western Cape The Western Cape province of South Africa is governed in a parliamentary system in which the people elect the Provincial Parliament, and the parliament elects the Premier as head of the executive. The Premier leads a cabinet of provincial min ...

. The reason was to attract more tourists to the region. A public participation exercise was run in order to get input of the people of Cape Town

Unveiling

It was done by

Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and leader of the political party Good. She was previously Mayor of Cape Town from 2011 to 2018, ...

Alan Winde Alan Richard Winde (born 18 March 1965) is a South African politician and businessman. He is the 8th and current Premier of the Western Cape, having held the position since 2019. He has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament sin ...

and Helen Zille The unveiling was attended by guests from all over the world. It was one of Mrs. de Lille's last official duties as mayor of Cape Town. She was under investigation of her political party and her last day was 31 October 2018. Special guests were Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Professor Njabulo Ndebele‚ chairman of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Statute

It is a human size statute. It is 1.95m tall. It's a slightly higher than Mandela's actual size (1.85m). It is done in bronze.

Sculptor

Dali Tambo’s company Koketso Growth obtain the tender and commissioned Xhanti Mpakama and Barry Jackson to make the statue. Mpakama's previous work includes Mandela Bust and Shaka. Jackson's prevouis work includes Louis van Mauritius and Johannes van der Kemp

Legacy Exhibition

Cape Town City decided that after the unveiling, a legacy exhibition centre will be erected in the City Hall. Audio-visual equipment, with interactive displays, together with interpretive panels will be facilitated in the City Hall. It will include people involved in the struggle for freedom, events that happened just prior to his release and the first democratic election. On 10 December 2021, it was completed and opened by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Other Mandela Statues in South Africa

Nelson Mandela Square Nelson Mandela Square is a shopping centre in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, that includes a large open area built to resemble a traditional European town square, and an office complex. The centre was formerly known as Sandton Square and ...

– The Mandela Statue is in Sandton * Union Buildings- Mandela Statue in Pretoria * Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium- in Port Elizabeth * Leeu House in Franschhoek * Drakenstein Correctional Services in Paarl

Controversial temporary removal of statue

On 11 January 2019, the day that celebrated the 29th anniversary of Mr Mandela's release, the statue was temporarily removed as a film company was shooting a movie on the parade. Cape Town City Council (under the authority of Mr D Plato, the mayor) gave permission. There was a public outcry about this removal. The statue is back in its place where it was originally commissioned.

References

{{Cape Town, culture 2018 establishments in South Africa 2018 sculptures Mandela, Nelson Cape Town