Focus on this artwork and discuss the History.
The statue was commissioned in July 2002 and completed in February 2004. It was unveiled in the square on 31 March 2004. It was sculpted by Kobus Hattingh and Jacob Maponyane.The statue was erected in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of South Africa's first democratic elections. It was the first-ever public statue of Mandela and was unveiled by his eldest granddaughter, Ndileka Mandela, who said of the statue that "While we honour Nelson Mandela in this statue, we are also honouring South Africa. He's not just a grandfather to us, but to the whole nation". A box for donations for the Nelson Mandela Foundation was placed beside the statue.
South Africa's first democratic elections Nelson Mandela