Despite attempts by the South African government to stop the auction, tomorrow is the day. 33 of Nelson Mandela’s personal items are up for auction via the New York auction house Guernsey’s. The showpiece is the key to the cell on Robben Island in which the former president of South Africa was imprisoned.
The historic item is sold by Christo Brand, Mandela’s former guard on Robben Island. The key has been in Brand’s possession for many years and is exhibited internationally. Mandela’s eldest daughter, initiator of the auction, has approved the sale.
South Africa’s culture minister Nathi Mthethwa said earlier this month that Guernsey’s auction house is aware of his country’s painful history and ‘the symbolic value of the key’. He finds it incomprehensible that the key is being auctioned on Robben Island without consultation with the government and the museum. “This key belongs to the people of South Africa. It is not anyone’s personal property,” Mthethwa said.
Failed
Guernsey’s announced a few weeks ago that it would postpone the auction due to an investigation by the South African authorities into the preservation of cultural heritage. It is now clear that attempts to return the key to South Africa have failed, as the item is still part of the catalog. Mandela’s personal items can be bid via an online auction from 8 p.m. Dutch time tomorrow.
In addition to the key, these include colorful shirts, lithographs and drawings Mandela made of Robben Island, books, busts and the necessary gifts he received from world leaders such as a blanket in the shape of an American flag of Barack Obama and a pen. from another former US president: George W. Bush. Other notable items include Mandela’s Ray Ban sunglasses and an exercise bike on which the anti-apartheid hero trained for an hour each day to stay fit during his 27-year total incarceration. This exercise bike is also offered for sale by ex-guard Christo Brand. Just like the draft of the constitution of South Africa that Mandela wrote to Brand.
Museum
The other thirty objects were donated by his family. The proceeds are intended for the construction of a museum, an indoor market (‘Madiba Market’ can be read in the design of the architects, a reference to Mandela’s nickname) and the construction of a memorial garden at his grave in the village of Qunu. Guernsey’s has expressed its honor through its management that the house is allowed to sell so many items from the Mandela family to help build the Mandela Memorial Garden.
The auction is expected to yield a few hundred thousand. Three years ago, a drawing Mandela made of the door of his cell on Robben Island yielded more than 100,000 euros. Even then his daughter had offered the drawing to a New York auction house (Bonhams).
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