World-revered anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela of South Africa should be 96 today and a collection of quite unusual items signed by him will be auctioned off. The items that belong to Mandela are not a lot, just a collection of memorabilia such as salt and pepper shakers, numerous photographs, chess set and other small items.
Nelson Mandela’s birthday, July 18, is a United Nations-recognized international holiday. It is celebrated as Mandela Day and on this day, fighting for social justice is encouraged.
Sale for charity
Stephan Welz & Co, the Johannesburg auction house that will be managing the auction will put about 220 items on the auction block. Savo Tufegdzic, from the auction company, is excited about this sale, because Mandela has signed hundreds of items. He said the auction is not for the money, which was what auctions are for, traditionally. This auction is more to encourage people to try collecting, not for people to be selling items related to Mandela and making money out of it. He said he wants the people to have the things that Mandela used to own, and to treasure them.
They are expecting to raise about $450,000¸which will be earmarked for charity. He said that their estimates for the items are not that high. He added that while many people were always on the lookout for autographs during auctions of this type, in the case of Mandela, they will not only be getting an autograph, but it is like getting and owning a piece of the great man.
Some items on the block
The items that will be auctioned off will be like trinkets for some. You can label them as kitsch items, even. The salt and pepper shakers are shaped like Mandela and FW de Klerk, who was the last South African president that ruled when the county was still under the apartheid era. He was the person that worked hard to broker the deal to end apartheid and won the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize (1991), Prince of Asturias Award (1992) and together with Nelson Mandela, who was instrumental in ending apartheid, won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
One of the rare items is a chess set, the figures of which are those that were on each side of the battle against apartheid. Figures on one side include Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mandela’s wife Winnie. On the other side are the South African police of old. Some of the pieces of the set are missing. The auctioneers have valued the set between $950 and $1,400.
Other memorabilia on the lot include books, medals, refrigerator magnets, statues, and ostrich eggs. There is a batch of 850 telephone cards from China that bear Mandela’s image. Photographs include those with other political and public figures, such as a photo of him meeting Michael Jackson.
All of the items that will be auctioned off bear the signature of Mandela, which makes them highly valuable. Part of the income will be given to the Foundation for Rural Development, which Ndileka Mandela, his granddaughter manages.
Image credit: Nelson Mandela taken by South Africa The Good News under Public Domain.
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