Weighing up pros and cons of Madiba legacy project statue
The erection of the statue is out for public comment and input by artists.
FILE PICTURE: The Nelson Mandela statue at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, 4 December 2014. Picture: Neil McCartney
The City of Cape Town’s proposed Madiba legacy project, which included a statue at a cost R3.5 million, has not been given the thumbs-up by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Director of communications at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Luzuko Koti, said the organisation – the custodians of Madiba’s legacy – had engaged with the city on a number of programmes, one of which was a statue of the former president.
The erection of the statue is out for public comment and input by artists. It is planned for the balcony of the City Hall, where Mandela made his first address after being released from prison, where he was incarcerated for 27 years.
Koti said it was mentioned as “an idea or a thought in an informal way about two years back”. However, he said the foundation had not received a formal submission from the city.
“Everything that references the image or references Nelson Mandela has been entrusted to the Nelson Mandela Foundation by Nelson Mandela himself,” he said. This included all his documents in the archives.
Western Cape MEC for economic development, tourism and agriculture, Alan Winde, said last week that the legacy project could create 100 000 jobs. This could include an ouma setting up a stand to sell Mandela’s favourite dish – chicken curry.
But Koti said the foundation had to sign off on the deal. This did not mean Madiba’s memory could not be celebrated but in terms of erecting statues, there were “sound and formal” channels to go through, he said.
Chief executive offcer of the Cape Town Heritage Trust, Laura Robinson, said the statue and the projects planned around it would spice up tourist attractions and revitalise the city, specifically the City Hall.
She said it was not a slap-dash decision and had been in the pipeline for some time.
Amid arguments that the R3.5 million could be better spent, Robinson said people should not be concerned. “In the greater scheme of things, when looking at the health schemes and housing and transport … it’s a drop in the ocean, I think,” Robinson said.
But some people disagreed. Joshua Peach said: “It’s a nice idea but … the money can be spent better elsewhere.”
Tshifhiwa Mashige said with the funds you could feed and house people.
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