Mandela statue unveiled in London

Mandela statue unveiled in London
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2007
CBC News

A statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela was unveiled in London on Wednesday in tribute to a man British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called "the greatest and most courageous leader of our generation."

The statue depicting Nelson Mandela delivering a speech, by sculptor Ian Walters, is 2.7 metres high, made of bronze and faces the Houses of Parliament.
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The 2.7-metre bronze statue stands in Parliament Square alongside figures of other leaders such as Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and former South African prime minister Jan Smuts, a leader in the Boer rebellion against Britain.

"When [fellow anti-apartheid campaigner] Oliver Tambo and I visited Parliament Square in 1962, we joked that we hoped one day a statue of a black person would be erected here, alongside that of General Smuts. Oliver would have been proud today if he were here," Mandela told the crowd at the unveiling. Tambo died in 1993.

The ceremony marked the achievements of 89-year-old Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for trying to overturn South Africa's racist apartheid system. He was freed in 1990, becoming South Africa's first black leader in 1994 after the fall of apartheid.

Mandela fondly remembered appearing at London's Wembley Stadium in 1990 just after he was released from prison and thanked the British people for supporting his fight against apartheid "during the dark years."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, left, congratulates former South African president Nelson Mandela, seated, with wife Graca Machel, right, during a statue unveiling ceremony in his honour in London's Parliament Square on Wednesday.

He also announced that his international AIDS awareness "46664" foundation, named for his prison number, will hold a concert in London's Hyde Park next summer to mark his 90th birthday.

The statue is the work of Ian Walters, who finished it just before he died last August. Walters was chosen for the project by anti-apartheid campaigner Donald Woods, author of the book Cry Freedom, because of his sculpture of Mandela on the south bank of the River Thames and for his links with the anti-apartheid movement.

"Though this statue is of one man, it should in fact symbolize all those who have resisted oppression, especially in my country," Mandela said on Wednesday. "The history of the struggle in South Africa is rich with the studies of heroes and heroines, some of the leaders, some of them followers. All of them deserve to be remembered."

Brown and Mandela held private talks at the prime minister's residence on Tuesday.

Brown has often expressed admiration for the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner and profiled Mandela in his book Courage: Eight Portraits.

"I'm proud to welcome to Downing Street the most inspiring, the greatest and most courageous leader of our generation," the British prime minister said.

Brown attended the unveiling ceremony, along with Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Richard Attenborough, who directed the movie Cry Freedom.