14 October, 2011 – “Very special”, was how Sarah Dunn, the new head of UKAID, described her tour of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory archive today.
Ms Dunn and her colleague Hilary Nkulu were shown items from Mr Mandela’s personal archive by Sello Hatang, head of communications of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory (NMCM). They saw the oldest items in the archive, Mr Mandela’s Methodist Church membership cards from 1929 to 1934, a photograph of him when he was a teenager at high school, and letters he meticulously transcribed in prison.
They were also shown the original warrants of committal when Mr Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison on 7 November 1962 for incitement and leaving the country without permission; and when he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964 for sabotage.
Please click on the images below to view a larger display
Sello Hatang and Sahm Venter from the NMCM show Sarah Dunn and Hilary Nkulu from UKaid Nelson Mandela’s prison calendar
Sello Hatang with Sarah Dunn and Hilary Nkulu in the NMCM archive
Sello Hatang shows Sarah Dunn Nelson Mandela’s original Warrants of Committal
Sello Hatang shows Sarah Dunn and Hilary Nkulu old photos of Nelson Mandela
Sarah Dunn and Hilary Nkulu look at the first photograph taken of Nelson Mandela, while Sello Hatang looks on
Sello Hatang shows Sarah Dunn the Authorised Comic Book produced by the NMCM
UKAID, formerly DFID (the Department for International Development) of the government of the United Kingdom, provided the NMCM with a three-year grant that has helped in processing Mr Mandela’s papers for eventual public access, as well as in producing exhibitions on the life and times of Nelson Mandela.
Earlier this week the archive received another high profile visit when Ethiopian athlete Haile Gebrselassie was shown around the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory. While he was at the NMCM he discovered that he had trained at the same police base where Mr Mandela trained during his visit to Ethiopia in 1962. He was delighted when told that Mr Mandela had done his military training at the Ethiopian Riot Battalion and said that he too had trained there and holds the rank of Major in that country’s police force.
Mr Gebrselassie was impressed with the work of the NMCM and encouraged those able to assist it to continue promoting Mr Mandela’s legacy.
Please click on the images below to view a larger display
Haile Gebrselassie at a display of the In Pursuit of Liberty exhibition at the NMCM
Haile Gebrselassie at the NMCM Resource Centre