About 75 items are to go under the hammer in a deal between Mandela’s family and a New York-based auctioneer. The South African government has said it will challenge the auctioning of dozens of artefacts belonging to the nation’s anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Mandela, saying the items are of historical significance and should be preserved in the country. “Former president Nelson Mandela is integral to South Africa’s heritage,” Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa said in a statement. “I want other people in the world to have a piece of Nelson Mandela – and to remind them, especially in the current situation, of compassion, of kindness, of forgiveness,” she told the New York Times. Most recently, Nigeria and Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of artefacts known as the Benin Bronzes.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 19, 2024 20:45 UTC