What do you give a man who has everything? This conundrum becomes even harder when the man in question is the international icon Nelson Mandela. Yet if you take a peek into the treasure trove hidden behind the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, hundreds of people thought they could rise to the challenge. Now Madiba sports a collection of kitsch that would rival that of any second-rate rock star.
On entering the room a visitor is struck by all that is gold and glistens. Stacked against the wall are dozens of ornate gilded frames for the portraits and paintings that, in oils and watercolours, depict mostly scenes of Madiba with the giver of the gift.
That is not where the gold theme ends. An embossed dagger in an emerald suede box was a gift from the Saudi Arabian embassy in South Africa and shares the space with a massive gilded Bible that was given to Madiba by the Methodist church.
Some have opted to improve Madiba’s wardrobe with sports gear that is meant to spice up his time in the gym. From South African tennis legend Amanda Coetzer, Madiba received a pair of green Nike cross-trainers, size 11, which are still brand-new and waiting for their first race. This is complemented by a set of red boxing gloves and a few basketballs. Two Missoni towels from music legend Quincey Jones are meant to round off the gym experience and, after that, cans of the energy drink Firefly are available for refreshment.
The captains of industry opted for more traditional gifts. Shoprite boss Whitey Basson presented Madiba with a smart Viyella dress shirt of pure silk while Absa chief executive Steve Booysen gave him a 54cm television set.
But there are those who believe that functional gifts are more important than expensive ones. According to staff at the Foundation, the most common gift they receive for Madiba is a comb. ”They know what old people need,” one staff member said.
The array of walking sticks, slippers and blankets (even one from the pop group Black Eyed Peas) fill a cupboard in the corner.
The most expensive present is an animal-skin book of photographs by Michael Poliza that weighs about 10kg.
And then there are those who don’t care about functionality or price. Two glass bottles of sand, a talisman from the Iranian republic and a wooden bow-and-arrow set are also displayed. From Ireland there is a mug featuring a picture of a sheep with the witty message ”Wish ewe were here”. A sombrero from the Argentinian embassy rounds off the collection.
Gift-givers obviously think Madiba likes looking at himself, because one out of every five gifts are miniature sculptures featuring a smiling Madiba.
The gifts are catalogued and stored in the back room when they arrive at the Foundation. Every few weeks Madiba’s wife, Graça Machel, or his personal assistant, Zelda la Grange, come to peruse the latest arrivals and take the things that Madiba would like or that they can use in one of their homes.
Reading Madiba
If there were already a lot of books about Nelson Mandela, there are now even more. Several new titles celebrate his 90th birthday and introduce the world to the great man in words and pictures. For quick facts, Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction by South African-born Elleke Boehmer (Oxford) is probably hard to beat. It’s a small-sized book, but it is 200 pages long, with a lot of tightly packed type, so it’s not really ”very short”.
Words and pictures combine to tell the leader’s story in other books. Mandela: The Authorised Portrait (Wild Dog Press) boasts the editorial advice of Mandela’s one-time prison-mates, Mac Maharaj and Ahmed Kathrada, as well as writing by acclaimed authors such as Mike Nicol and Tim Couzens. It collects historical images from many sources to go with the writing and is a handsomely made book.
Nelson Mandela: The Authorised Comic Book (Jonathan Ball) puts between hard covers a series based on Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and runs in South African newspapers. Its vibrant images and exciting style should make his story accessible to young people. Pictures dominate in Man of the People: A Photographic Tribute to Nelson Mandela (Macmillan) by one of South Africa’s leading photographers, Peter Magubane. From Drum in the 1950s to today, Magubane documented the people’s struggle and he has many sterling images of Mandela, mostly post-1990.
Worth catching up with, too, is Luli Callinicos’s The World that Made Mandela (STE), a wonderful guide to that world, with lots of pictures, and a tour you can take. Exclusive Books, however, when phoned, said they had copies at only one branch in the whole of Gauteng — and this as the world experiences renewed Mandelamania! Failing that, there is still Long Walk to Freedom, which is surely available, if only at the airport. — Mail & Guardian reporter