No ”worthwhile” proposal had yet been received for the form of the mooted statue of former president Nelson Mandela, to be erected within the parliamentary precincts, MPs were told on Wednesday.
Parliament’s arts curator, Dr Rayda Becker, told the
institution’s joint sub-committee on internal arrangements that more than 100 letters had been sent to artists and other professionals inviting proposals.
The deadline for submissions was the end of this month and the estimated cost of the statue would be R2-million, she said.
Turning to Parliament’s artworks, she estimated there were about 2 400 and their categorisation as to what belonged to Parliament and what to the state (the public works department) would take until about March next year.
So far 1 100 items had been put on a data base.
Becker, who was appointed on a year-long contract from the start of this year, asked for permission to remove all works on paper from the walls so she could assess them.
Sub-committee chairwoman, Deputy Speaker Baleka Mbete, said a recommendation to this effect would be made to the joint parliamentary rules committee.
The issue of extending Becker’s contract until at least March next year, when she would probably have completed her work, also needed to be raised at the rules committee, Mbete added. – Sapa