HERITAGE OUTCRY
Under the hammer — row over planned auction of Mandela’s personal belongings
Items that belonged to Nelson Mandela will be auctioned at the end of February. While proceeds will go to a memorial garden in Mandela’s home village, critics say historical artefacts should belong to the country and not individuals.
“We believe it to be self-evident that this item requires the protections afforded by South Africa’s heritage legislation,” the Nelson Mandela Foundation said about the former President’s ID document being auctioned.
Over the past week, there has been an outcry over Guernsey’s auction, planned for 22 February, of almost 100 of Mandela’s possessions, including signed books, gifts from international leaders, walking sticks and T-shirts.
According to the auction website, the items come from the Mandela family and proceeds will be used to build the Mandela Memorial Garden at his graveside in Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
“For those who lived through Nelson Mandela’s remarkable struggle for freedom, and for future generations, the garden will serve as an inspirational reminder of a man whose life impacted us all,” the auction house said.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation’s communications officer, Morongwa Phukubye, told Daily Maverick: “It is important to acknowledge that Madiba had no in-principle objection to personal belongings of his being auctioned in fundraising initiatives for good causes. On the contrary, he himself donated items for this purpose many times.”
Phukubye said the foundation still had a few objects given by Mandela specifically for “this kind of fundraising”. However, questions of ownership, authenticity and the heritage of the items to be auctioned needed to be answered.
“In terms of the auction and the items currently under discussion, we have not had access to the artefacts themselves nor to the kind of detailed contextual evidence required to support clear-cut answers to these questions,” she said.
However, regarding Mandela’s identity document, “We believe it to be self-evident that this item requires the protections afforded by South Africa’s heritage legislation,” said Phukubye.
The ID document, issued on 24 February 1993, has a current bid price of $75,000 (R1,418,834) on a bidding website.
‘Disgrace’
One of Mandela’s grandsons, Ndaba Mandela, described the auction as a “disgrace”, News24 reported.
The items are being sold by Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe Mandela and his former prison warder Christo Brand, according to News24.
Makaziwe Mandela, Mandela’s eldest daughter, told The New York Times the memorial garden would honour her father by boosting local tourism.
“I want other people in the world to have a piece of Nelson Mandela — and to remind them, especially in the current situation, of compassion, of kindness, of forgiveness,” she said.
The South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) said the auction raised “significant concerns” for themselves and the Robben Island Museum, who in the past have unsuccessfully taken court action to prevent similar auctions.
“Sahra … and the museum are urgently assessing the lawfulness and implications of the impending auction, and considering all available remedies,” said the agency’s Yazeed Sadien.
“This is not only to protect and promote a commitment to conserving South Africa’s rich cultural heritage but also to contributing to the global discourse on responsible cultural heritage stewardship.”
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa said he supported Sahra and the museum.
“Former President Nelson Mandela is integral to South Africa’s heritage. His life, experiences and legacy live in our consciousness and in the values we promote as a country,” he said in a media release.
“It is thus important that we preserve the legacy of former President Mandela and ensure that his life’s work and experiences remain in the country for generations to come.” DM
If the South African Heritage Resources Agency wants to conserve SA’s cultural heritage, it should start fundraising to buy what it wants at the auction. None of the items shown in this report strike me as important culturally.
At the very least, I find it bizarre that an identity document can be freely traded and does not remain the property of the state.
That’s fame and notoriety for you. Get over it!
The arguments about national heritage aside, any thinking person will know that perhaps a fraction of funds raised will find their way to the creation of this ‘garden’, and that the garden – if it is created in any meaningful scale – will likely revert to a patch of weeds and dead trees in time.Follow the money.
A quick roundup of South African heritage sites and artifacts reveals that decay, bad management, lack of maintenance and shortage of funds is the order of the day. Why should the Mandela family donate any of Nelson Mandela’s belongings to the state. They would simply go the same way as his home in Houghton which is falling apart. And how safe would any of Mandela belongings be in the hands of the corrupt ANC? Let the family auction the stuff off and use the proceeds to build a lasting legacy in the form of the proposed memorial garden. Allow the family to retain any excess cash for their own use rather than have it disappear into ANC pockets.
Well, what the hell did his Will say? Who inherited his belongings?
Disgraceful
Africa has no interest in legacy or artifacts. As mentioned elsewhere, museums, collections of historical value and buildings, are furthest from the minds of politicians. The remnants of the Mandela property in Umtata are already going to ruin. If the legacy of Mandela is so easily forgotten, what hope is there that other historical paintings, buildings, etc., will survive.
A memorial garden in Transkei?
The goats ate all the documentation and pot plants in the Umtata Airport building and left their calling cards throughout. I lived there and talk from first-hand experience. What hope has a memorial garden outside Umtata, where no-one will visit a rural area, and if they tried, would create another opportunity to rob tourists?
The money raised will buy new Gucci bags!