There is much to commend the idea of a monument which celebrates the triumph of freedom in South Africa and remembers those who sacrified and suffered to achieve it. Think of Auschwitz standing for all to visit and be reminded of the pledge of survivors, repeated by Mandela in his inauguration address: “Never, never again.” Consider the powerful simplicity of the Vietnam memorial in Washington, which consists of a wall engraved with the names of all 50 000 Americans who died in the conflict. Think of Yad Vashem in Israel, which provides research, data collection and such services for those who want to remember what happened in Nazi Germany.
The mark of all these are that they are living, participatory memorials. People visit to see a gas chamber or other artefacts of the holocaust for themselves, or to find the names of their beloveds, or to gather information about what happened. They are the product of participation by victims, historians, representatives of the communities they are meant to represent. They are also tasteful. None of them are statues to living heroes.
This country could well do with an equivalent — a monument which captures the pain of apartheid and the courage of those who fought against it. Mandela may be the South African most deserving of a sculpture since Chief Maqana tried to swim from Robben Island, but please, please, not while he is alive.
The Island, symbolically located at the entrance to the Mother City, laden with history and layered with meaning, would be an obvious site for a memorial. It could include a functional institute which also houses facilities to record, research and disseminate information about apartheid and the struggle against it. It would need some element which celebrates the country’s triumph over its history, by an artist who knows and understands what happened in the last four decades.
The plan to build a R50-million, 23m bronze cast of Mandela’s fist has none of these virtues. It does, however, promise to serve two important functions. It will provide employment for a creator of apartheid monuments who would probably otherwise have difficulty finding patrons for work like the fascist Strijdom Memorial in Pretoria. After all, we have to provide jobs and use the skills we have in this country.
And the gigantic fist will help ease the conscience of those who made their fortune during the apartheid years by doing things like selling skin lightening creams. This is, after all, the era of reconciliation.