Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
‘May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears’
The Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria epitomises the early, but yet to be fulfilled, promise of an all-embracing prosperous ‘Rainbow Nation’
THE REDEEMER: Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria [Haruba-bad/Creative Commons]

NELSON MANDELA died eight years ago on December 5 2013. This statue of him was unveiled on December 16 — the official Day of Reconciliation — thus ending the 10-day-long period of mourning.

The nine-metre-high bronze figure is the tallest figurative statue of Nelson Mandela and weighs approximately 3.5 tonnes. Its outstretched arms span eight metres and are uncannily reminiscent of Paul Landowski’s 1930 art deco Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro from the Corcovado mountain peak.

The statue, which emanates warmth, humanity and welcome, was cast in 147 separate pieces at four different foundries before being assembled in Cape Town.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
tanner
Meet the Cartoonist / 18 July 2025
18 July 2025

Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet

MB
Album reviews / 23 June 2025
23 June 2025

New releases from Hannah Rose Platt, Kemp Harris, and Spear Of Destiny

Cartoons: (L to R) Citizen Chicane and Songi
Culture / 23 December 2024
23 December 2024
(L to R) the book cover; Labour Party election poster 1945;
Books / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
MICHAL BONCZA recommends a compact volume that charts the art of propagating ideas across the 20th century
Similar stories
Writer and freedom fighter Ruth First and (right) defendants at the 1956 Treason Trial pose for a photo
Features / 29 May 2025
29 May 2025

RONNIE KASRILS pays tribute to Ruth First, a fearless fighter against South African apartheid, in the centenary month of her birth

Afrikaners from South Africa arrive, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va.
Features / 19 May 2025
19 May 2025

The plan is to stigmatise and destabilise South Africa in preparation for breaking it up while creating a confused and highly racialised atmosphere around immigration in the US to aid in denying rights to non-white refugees, explains EMILE SCHEPERS

MEMORY SERVES US RIGHT: (L to R) Activists at The Liberation
Features / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
MARC WADSWORTH reports from the meeting to commemorate the Sharpeville Massacre 65 years ago
(L) Playwright Athol Fugard, 1985; (R) A scene from Tsotsi (
Appreciation / 5 April 2025
5 April 2025
Following his death a month ago, DENNIS WALDER assesses the achievement of the playwright who developed his work in the townships