Erection date: 1985
‘The struggle is my life'
Nelson Mandela
Gaoled 5th August 1962, sentenced to life imprisonment 12th June 1964 for his actions against apartheid.
Erected by the Greater London Council.
Unveiled by Oliver Tambo, President of the African National Congress, 28th October 1985.
Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years' imprisonment, 11th February 1990.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 10th December 1993.
Inaugurated President of the Republic of South Africa and its Government of National Unity, 10th May 1994.
{On the back:}
Sculptor - Ian Walters
The original sculpture was offered to the Greater London Council in 1984 and unveiled a year later by the late ANC president Oliver Tambo while Mandela was still in jail. The day after the unveiling Labour Party firebrand and anti-apartheid activist Tony Brand stood up in the House of Commons, complete with ANC T-shirt and goaded the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Would she find time, he asked, "to go to the South Bank to see the statue of Nelson Mandela erected by the GLC?" She replied with a terse "No".
However the glass-fibre sculpture was very vulnerable to attack and lasted just over a year before being destroyed by fire, the last in a series of attacks by racist gangs who left a wall daubed with slogans such as "black murderers out of Britain".
The black polished-granite plinth was raised two feet and the sculpture, now in bronze, was erected a second time in August 1988.
This statue was erected while Mandela was still alive - not as unusual as one would think - we are collecting the list at FennerBrockway.
Sources include: The South African.
Site: Nelson Mandela - bust (1 memorial)
SE1, South Bank
This bust is on the upper level beside the Royal Festival Hall.
