R3.5m Madiba statue in Cape Town not impressing everyone

Cape Town plans to honour former president Nelson Mandela with a statue that will apparently add up to a cost of about R3.5 million.

But Capetonians don’t seem particularly impressed about it.

The statue will be funded by the Western Cape government while the city will spend R1.3 million on a permanent exhibition. This money will go towards operational costs and ongoing maintenance of the exhibition and statue.

The proposed statue will stand on the Cape Town City Hall balcony, where Mandela gave his first public speech after he was released from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February, 1990.

Opposite this balcony almost 50 000 South Africans gathered on the Grand Parade to celebrate jos release from prison after 27 years and hear him speak.

The exhibition at City Hall will have interpretive panels, audiovisual equipment and interactive displays to further immortalise Tata Madiba.

The public have been asked for submissions in how Mandela is to be honoured. Residents of Cape Town have been encouraged to share their views about the matter.

Naming and nomination committee chair, councillor Brett Herron, said on Monday: “The purpose of the public participation process is to engage with our residents about the intended memorialisation of Madiba at City Hall.

People on social media have not wasted any time in showing how unhappy they are about the expensive statue, though.

Many took to Twitter to voice their opinions and called it a waste of money, particularly since there are already two big statues of Mandela in South Africa, one at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and the other at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton.

The statue will, however, probably bring tourism benefits to the city.

A bust of Mandela was unveiled outside parliament in Cape Town in 2014, and was soon damaged by a van that reversed into it.

– Original article by Connect