Reuters
A 2.75-metre-tall statue of former
president Nelson Mandela now stands on the spot in Washington DC where
thousands of Americans were arrested in the 1980s for protesting against
apartheid. Photo: Reuters
Cape Town - A
2.75m-tall statue of Nelson Mandela now stands on the spot in Washington
DC where thousands of Americans were arrested in the 1980s for
protesting against apartheid.
The statue, depicting Mandela as
he walked out of Victor Verster Prison to freedom in February 1990, was
unveiled outside the South African embassy in Washington DC at about 4pm
South African time on Saturday.
South African Minister of
International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane,
attended the unveiling in the US capital on Saturday, said department
spokesman, Clayson Monyela.
He said that the South African
Embassy in the US was a historic site of many protest marches by the
Free South Africa Movement in the US, and would stand as a symbol of
activism, freedom and democracy.
He said the statue was located in
the Chancery wing, and resembled the statue that stands at the place
where Mandela stepped to freedom at Victor Verster.
“The project has received a
positive response from US citizens who see it as the completion of the
golden triangle of the global civil rights movement, encompassing the
statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela,”
Monyela said.
The
idea was conceived in 2011 in recognition of 2012 as a year which
focused on South Africa. Other events included the African Diaspora
Summit and the centenary celebrations of the ANC. The highlight of the
campaign was the celebration of the Life, Legacy and Values of Nelson
Mandela, and ultimately the unveiling of the statue on Saturday.
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