The key to the late Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island prison cell was set to be auctioned off later this month, however, the auctioneers have announced that the auction that was set to happen in the United States has been postponed.
According to DW, the key where Mandela spent 18 of his 27-year jail sentence during apartheid was meant to be auctioned off on January 28.
The key was one of many items on the list for auction. The other items included, Mandela’s sunglasses, the Pollsmoor Prison Cell exercise bicycle, and one of Madiba’s prison tennis rackets, reports IOL.
US auction house Guernsey’s said that due to a pending review by the South African Heritage Resource Agency, the auction had to be postponed. Guernsey’s told AFP news that the government agency called for the postponement not because of anything being stolen, but because some items had left South Africa without its necessary permits.
South Africa’s minister of arts and culture, Nathi Mthetha, agreed to the auction’s suspension and said in a statement as per DW, “the key symbolizes South Africa’s painful history whilst also representing triumph of the human spirit over evil. The key is living proof of South Africans’ long walk to freedom and belongs to the people of South Africa. It, therefore, must rightfully be returned to the country.” According to South African authorities, the key is ‘living proof’ of the country’s struggle during apartheid.
But how exactly did the key end up at an auction?
DW further reported that Mandela went on to serve as our country’s first Black president from May 1994 to June 1999. He died in December 2013 at the age of 95.
Mandela’s former prison guard Christo Brand, who he had befriended, had the key since the 1980s and Mandela’s oldest daugther, Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah, had asked Guernsey’s to hold the auction. Money from the auction was used to build a memorial garden and museum around the late president’s grave.
“I know this is upsetting to the Mandela family, it’s upsetting to us, but … [South African authorities] are doing what they think is best, we just disagree with them,” Guernsey’s founder Arlan Ettinger said.
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Picture: Wikimedia Commons / Cape {town} Etc gallery