Photo: South Africa Unveils Mandela ‘Unity’ Statue

The South African President Jacob Zuma on today unveiled a nine-metre bronze statue of Nelson Mandela with his arms outstretched to symbolise unity and reconciliation.

“We laid Tata to rest in Qunu only yesterday and today Monday, he rises majestically at the seat of government, as a symbol of peace, reconciliation, unity and progress,” he said.

Tata is the Xhosa word for father, and Mandela is revered as the father of the new South Africa born at the end of apartheid in 1994 when he became its first black president.

Reuters reports that the 4.5 tonne statue was the largest of Mandela created in the world and was inaugurated on the lawn of South Africa’s hilltop ‘Union Buildings’, the seat of the central government, overlooking the capital Pretoria.

It was also the location where his body lay in state for three days last week as over 100,000 people paid their respects in person, before his state funeral in Eastern Cape.