EXHIBITION HONOURS MADIBA
Exhibition at the Nelson Mandela House at Drakenstein Correctional Centre
A PHOTO exhibition in Nelson Mandela’s honour has opened at the Nelson Mandela House at Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Paarl.
The house was recently declared a national heritage site.
The exhibition is titled “Nelson Mandela: His Prison Life at Drakenstein Revisited” and shows Mandela’s final months of imprisonment, after his release and his return to the house later.
Mandela was incarcerated in the house for 14 months of his 27-year imprisonment. The house is in the grounds of the previously known Victor Verster Prison.
The launch of the exhibition took place on the 29th anniversary of Mandela’s release from prison – February 11, 1990. It is also the same place from where he took his first steps to freedom. Mandela later had a replica of the house built in Qunu in the Eastern Cape, where he grew up.
Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, who atteneded the exhibition, also visited his grandfather at the house during the 1980s.
He said: “The house always held a special place in the president’s heart, despite him being held against his will. For me, we will always regard this house as the place where Madiba’s true incarceration took place.
“I think we are fond, as a family, to own the replica of this house. Madiba built the identical house in Qunu, where his final resting place is. You must understand how dear this property was to my grandfather.”
Prior to Mandela’s imprisonment, the house served as home to the prison’s chief warden.
Since Mandela’s release, the interior has remained mostly unchanged, apart from the addition of a few portraits of Madiba, which hang on the walls.
MEC for cultural affairs and sport, Anroux Marais, said at the launch that it was an opportunity “to follow in the footsteps of Madiba”.
“The launch today shows in real terms what can be achieved if we all work better together for the greater good of all who call our great county home.
“I therefore thank the national Department of Correctional Services, the South African Heritage Resource Agency, our DCAS officials, Heritage Western Cape, the local Drakenstein Municipality and every person who had a hand in the success of the launch. Together we have taken another step in our long walk to freedom.”
The exhibition contains photos from photographers Benny Gool, Adil Bradlow and Nathan Ramailane.
Gool said: “I helped put together the photo exhibition. It consists of photographs of Madiba in the house.”