Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa has secured the release of former President Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island prison cell key and other items which were due to be auctioned in the United States later this month.
This follows the intervention of Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa who approached Guernsey's Auction House which had listed the items.
Mthethwa said the key was considered part of the national estate in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act. “The key symbolises South Africa's painful history whilst also representing triumph of the human spirit over evil. This key is living proof of South Africans' long walk to freedom and belongs to the people of South Africa. It therefore must rightfully be returned to the country,” he said.
Former prison warder Christo Brand, who befriended Mandela when he was still incarcerated on the island, kept the key for many years.
He said he was approached by Mandela’s oldest daughter, Makaziwe, to donate the item to raise funds for a Mandela Memorial Garden at her father's burial site in the Eastern Cape.
Mandela spent 18 years on Robben Island and a further nine at prisons around Cape Town for his role in attempting to liberate South Africa.
-0- PANA CU/MA 7Jan2022
