Lhe long term in prison of the icon of the struggle against apartheid has marked history. Now the key to Nelson Mandela’s cell could be auctioned next month in Britain. An act disapproved of by the South African government, which denounces it on Friday, December 24, qualifying it as “unbearable”.
The Minister of Sports, Culture and the Arts “ordered that urgent measures be taken” after learning of this “worrying” information published in the British press, according to a statement released on Christmas Eve.
This is the key to Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island Penitentiary, where he was locked up for much of his 27 years in prison. It was its jailer, Christo Brand, who allegedly sold it to the British auction house Guernsey’s, details the press release.
“It is unbearable that Guernsey’s, which is clearly aware of our country’s painful history and the symbolism of the key, is considering auctioning it off without any consultation with the South African government, heritage authorities in South Africa. South and the Robben Island Museum, ”denounces Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
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“The key must be returned to its rightful owners”
“This key belongs to the South African people […] It is not the personal property of anyone, ”he adds, hoping that the auction house understands“ the importance of the untimeness of the planned sale ”. Robben Island is now a national museum and a world heritage site. The objects associated with it thus have “a cultural, heritage and historical significance”, pleads the minister.
They recall the bitter struggle of the fighters against the racist apartheid regime “and ultimately our determination, as a nation, to be free”. “The key must be returned to its legitimate owners with immediate effect and this auction must be interrupted,” insists the minister, affirming that he is in contact with the Minister of Justice and the Heritage Council to act in this direction.
On Robben Island, which faces the port city of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela’s cell can be visited every day. It’s located in Section B, a bare white hallway overlooking a sun-blinding courtyard, where he had planted a garden that is still alive today. On its website, the British auction house announced the sale for January 28, specifying that in addition to the key to his cell, other items that belonged to Mr. Mandela will be offered, such as his “shirt. emblematic Madiba ”, glasses, pens, a painting or even a bronze cast of his fist.