According to the premier, Refilwe Mtshweni, the statue of Nelson Mandela has “failed in its intended objective to pay homage to the legacy” of the former president and it must be fixed.

Michael and Elvy Canadas are the owners of The Loop Art Foundry and they designed the six-metre tall bronze statue. They said they will gladly fix it.

It is located at the entrance to the Mpumalanga Legislature and was erected to honour Madiba’s 100th birthday. Its posture and facial expression received criticism from the general public.

Shortly after the official unveiling of the statue, the premier states that she noted a number of material artistic defects and wrote to culture, sports and recreation MEC, Thandi Shongwe.

Mtshweni asked her to enforce remedial action aimed at addressing the inconsistencies within 30 days.

Last Friday the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) picketed, demanding it removed as it does not look like their Mandela.

Michael said they were shocked when they heard the negative feedback from the public and when legislature said they had not seen the statue before it was unveiled.

He said it was his first time doing something locally and he was disappointed to hear all the criticism, although he is willing to fix it.

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“We followed the client’s instruction and we sent them photos almost on a daily basis to show our progress, Michael elaborates.

“We also got a confirmation from the service provider, Mideast Investment saying everyone who was supposed to see the statue before it was unveiled, approved it. Three days before it was unveiled the department saw it too and said it was fine.”

Elvy said she was angry, sad and humiliated. “We did everything that they asked us to do. We sent through our work and they made suggestions before we completed the statue and we made all the changes they requested. They saw everything,” she explained.
During an interview with Lowvelder, Michael said two weeks after it was unveiled they had a meeting with a task team from the premier’s office.

He also confirmed that he sent through a proposal to the service provider explaining his plan on amending the artwork.

“I will cast the head in my studio for six weeks, the arm will need me to open it and then I add more fabric on his shirt then it will be lifted. I will need a day to go outside legislature, place the head and weld it. On the very same day I can also fix the arm.”

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It has been widely reported that the artists charged only in the vicinity of R950 000 for the actual statue although the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation spent R8,3 million of taxpayers’ money.

The Canadases would not confirm what they had charged to make the statue.

According to Sibongile Nkosi, director of communications for the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, which was tasked with erecting the statue, they set aside a budget of R8,5 million for the designing, manufacturing and installation of the project.

When Lowvelder contacted the director of Mideast Investment, Mishkah Theron, she referred the newspaper to Nkosi for comment. The department in turn said the questions should be directed to the Office of the Premier. Spokesman Zibonele Mncwango had not responded at the time of going to press.